You Keep Me Going
by Starry Bat
Summary: I don't trust people anymore. That's why I've been on my own for the past few months in a little house, not wanting to be with any betraying groups. All of a sudden, this crossbow wielding butt-head shows up and takes me into his group. But why? I know there are multiple reasons to this...
1. Chapter 1: An Encounter

**You Keep Me Going  
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**Chapter 1: An Encounter**

**Oh boy, my first Walking Dead fanfiction. This will be exciting...**

**I'm letting y'all know that this isn't a romance pairing. Sure, my character will develop some feelings for Daryl at some point, but not like that...entirely. I'm also apologizing for the insanely long chapters. If this was in a book, it'd be about twelve pages. I already have some pre-written chapters, so the next ones will be shorter. Much shorter.**

**I do not own the Walking Dead! I hope you like it! Kthxbai -zooms-  
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I was walking back to my house from scavenging whatever I could find. I found a few cans of food, medical stuff, like rubbing alcohol and bandages, and, of course, my monthly trip to the nearby fabric store to get some fabrics and sewing supplies (it may be the end of the world, but I still have a hobby). Even though I'm on the verge of death every time I leave my house, I still get some regular stuff. Hell, just the other day, I went out of my way to get an adorable stuffed animal I saw while looking for food. It. Was. Worth it.

I entered the small neighborhood where my house was. I settled down in this place a few months ago. I was, again, running away from my previous group who I stole from and came here a few days later. Since then, I've been living on my own with a cat I talk to as if it were a human. A few minutes passed and I was almost to my house. I had no idea why I chose a house so far from the border of the neighborhood, but it was a nice house. There were nice things in it and the cat was there, so it became my new home.

I stopped in my tracks as I saw the sight of my house. Well, more like the sight of a man walking into my house. My heart began to beat rapidly, each beat saying "Panic, panic, panic." I'm not saying I'm a scaredy cat, but when I get freaked out, my mind races. I've never seen this guy before. Could he be someone from one of my previous groups, and he tracked me down? I don't recognize him one bit. I carefully approached my house, trying to make sure the man couldn't see or hear me. As I came up to my door, I could tell he broke the lock, probably with a knife of some sort. I pushed my door open, praying the old hinges wouldn't creak, and slipped through the small space I made into the living room. I was an idiot for not bringing my baseball bat with me. It would've been in my hands right now, but it's leaning in the corner beside the couch. My cat wasn't in sight. That's good, I think. She's safe, I hope. I quietly took off my stuff and quickly crawled to my bat and grabbed it. I stood up, ready for a fight. I heard a noise from the kitchen. _He'd better not take my cookies_, I thought. I mean, they're stale, but cookies are cookies, and that man better not take them. I sneaked to the entrance to the kitchen, and I poked my head over the corner of the wall. The man's back was towards me and he was at the counter where I kept the dolls I made. He had long brown hair that went to the base of his neck. He had a bag, probably holding supplies, slung over his shoulder, and had a loaded crossbow in one hand. He was holding one of my dolls in the other hand. He had a strong build and looked like a biker, so I had to approach him carefully. One punch from him could probably kill me. I sneaked closer to him, readying my bat for a swing.

I was a couple of steps away from him. I took one more step and the floor made a loud _creeeaaak_. The man jolted his head up and turned. His blue eyes pierced through my head, and looking at them showed me that he was ready for a fight. Just as quickly as he turned, I smacked the middle of the baseball against the side of his head. His body collapsed on the ground and he laid there motionless. "Shit, did I kill him?" I asked myself. I knelt beside him and placed my head near his chest.

…

There was a normal beat. I put my index finger under his nose and there was a gentle breeze coming from it. That's good, I didn't kill him, but I hope I didn't give him internal bleeding and dies later. I whacked his head hard enough to give him a bad looking bruise on the side of his forehead though. It was swollen, and if I had hit him any harder, he would either be dead or the bruise would cut open and bleed severely. Nothing I haven't seen before however. _Great, that means I have to take care of him_. I removed a knife from his belt and checked his pockets for other weapons. I then picked up his upper body and propped him against the wall.

"Jesus, you're heavy," I grunted. I never had a problem lifting portions of full grown adults, but this guy was _heavy_. Either I'm tired and don't have the energy for what I'm doing (I'm always tired) or this guy's leather jacket weighed a ton. Probably both. I looked through the guy's bag to see if he had any bandages. I managed to pull out a long piece of fabric. Then I pulled out a small box of cookies. "God damn it, he took them," I said. I opened the lid. "And he ate some." I stood up and grabbed a clean hand towel from a nearby drawer and soaked it with cool water from the sink. I strapped the towel to the man's forehead with the fabric. Small streams of water ran down the side of his face, which must have been really dirty because the streaks made clean lines on his cheek.

Now, the next step: bringing this guy on the couch…

I took his torso from behind and hooked my arms under his. I began walking backwards towards the living room. As I approached the couch, I saw my cat walk in through the hallway.

"Ella, help me," I sarcastically begged, but her answer was a bleating meow, and she walked passed me to the kitchen.

After a few minutes of work, I got this man to lie down on the couch, propping his head up with a couple of pillows. I then grabbed some rope and tied his hands and feet with a line of rope connecting the two. So, if his feet move, his hands go with them, and vice versa. I sat on an adjacent reclining chair and looked at the man. He looked middle-aged, probably mid-40's. It's been a while since someone wandered into my house. The last person who came in here ended up dead, because she tried to kill me, and I bashed her brains out with my baseball bat. I buried her outside of the neighborhood, if you're wondering, but having this unconscious dude with me is some form of good company.

Ella walked up to the couch and jumped on the couch. She smelled the man's face and climbed up on his chest. She lied down and tucked her limbs under her body so she would look like a ball of fluff with a head and a tail. "Ain't that precious." I stood up and grabbed a camera from off the coffee table. It was one of those cameras which you took the picture and a sheet of film paper would come out and the image would show up some time later. I snapped a photo of Ella and the man, and the whirring of the camera slowly spat a photo. I took it and watched the image pop up. It was a cute picture. I put both the camera and picture down on the coffee table and sat on the floor beside the couch. I watched Ella and the man's chest slowly go up and down. I felt for a beat with my fingers against his neck. There was a normal beat. Maybe this man won't die of a concussion.

A couple of hours passed and this man wasn't awake yet. I managed to fix the lock of the front door, and I would re-soak the hand towel every now and then. I took Ella off his chest, because I assumed he had a hard time breathing. He seemed to be sleeping rather than being unconscious. He would mumble some inaudible words every now and then. It was funny, I thought. I began making another doll on the coffee table. I had no particular design for this doll, but seeing how the man was dressed inspired me for a sinister-looking doll of some sort. It only took me thirty minutes to finish, and I put it away in the kitchen after I finished it.

Another hour passed, and he wasn't awake yet. He was still breathing. He still had a normal heart beat. He was still mumbling in his sleep. I guess I did a number on him. I checked the clock that was on the wall. I know it doesn't work, but I still looked at it when I'm wondering what time it was. At least it's telling the correct time twice a day. It'll be getting dark soon, and this guy probably has a group waiting on him. They could get worried. They could somehow track him down and check these houses until they see him here. They could ask me questions like "What did you do to him?" or "Do you have a group?" and stuff like that. They could probably kill me. I decided to soak the towel again. It got dry since the last time I soaked it. I took the towel off and examined the bruise. The swelling was gone and the color was a light purple. _How much longer will this guy stay knocked out_, I thought. I don't mind him staying for the night, but at least wake up so I can have someone to talk to.

I walked to the kitchen, turned on the sink, and I ringed the towel under the flowing water. After cleaning it out, I turned off the sink and hung the towel on the edge of the counter. If he woke up, he's got to be hungry, so I decided to make him a peanut butter sandwich. I put together one in a minute on a plate (which I assumed was cleaned), grabbed the wet towel, and walked back to the living room. I placed the plate on the table and placed the towel on the man's forehead. I removed the strip of fabric a while ago, so the cloth just rested there. I turned for a bit to close the curtains of the windows of the living room. Light still seeped through, but that will leave soon. I heard groaning all of a sudden. I turned and saw the man stirring his head. I walked beside his legs and stared at him. He opened his eyes slowly, and he took a look around, the wet towel falling to the side. He stopped and looked at me. His blue eyes pierced through my head again. He was still alive.

There was a long silence. He looked down at his tied hands and feet, and then he looked at me. He seemed pissed. I can understand why. I knocked him out and tied him up. I would be pissed too. I was the first to speak.

"Sorry… that I hit your head with a baseball bat," I tried to say kindly. He scoffed softly.

"T's alright," he spoke sarcastically in a scratchy voice. I knew damn well it wasn't alright. I scooted the plate closer to him. He looked at it, then back at me. I took out my pocket knife and flipped the blade out. I held it up.

"Promise you won't hurt me or run away if I take these ropes off," I said. He nodded.

"Yeah, I promise," he answered. It still sounded like sarcasm, but I wasn't going to feed the sandwich to him. Plus, there was that little angel in my heart telling me to trust him a bit. I sat on the edge of the couch.

"Cross your heart?"

The man tried to move his hands, showing me that they were still tied. "Can't really cross my heart like this, now can I?" he asked sarcastically. I moved my index finger towards his chest, and I made a cross over his heart. "Okay, _you_ crossed my heart yourself, so I can't break it."

_Fix that sarcastic-sounding voice, dude._

I nodded my head and smiled slightly. "Okay." I cut his ropes off his hands and feet and stood up so he could sit up at the edge of the couch. The man rubbed his wrists. There were rope burns. He took the sandwich and took a bite. He eyed me bit, probably making sure I wouldn't do anything stupid. I just looked at him. I was making sure that he wouldn't do anything stupid. The man looked away. "How's your head?"

"Alright. Still hurts a bit."

"That's good, um, I guess," I said awkwardly.

There was a long silence.

"Thanks for the sandwich," the man said, trying to sound polite.

"You're welcome," I said. I sat down a couple of feet away from him on the couch. I thought an introduction would be appropriate right now. "I'm Becca," I said. I held my hand out for a handshake. He looked at my hand, at me, then back at my hand. The man licked his fingers from extra peanut butter and shook my hand.

"I'm Daryl," he said gruffly. His hand was cold and slightly wet from his spit. He also had a strong grip, so he could have crushed my hand _or neck_ with one hand anytime he wanted. Even so, he looked friendly enough, I guess, so I retracted the blade and put the knife back in my pocket.

"Are you thirsty?" I asked.

"I'm good," he replied. I gave him a stern look, and he darted his eyes at me.

"C'mon. You can't have a sandwich like that and not wash it down with something," I retorted while forcing a smile.

He groaned and took another bite of the sandwich. "I said I'm fine, Sunshine," he said.

Sunshine? Why the hell did he call me that?

I stood up, walked to the kitchen, and opened one of the cabinets. I took out a half filled bottle of soda, which I know for a fact is flat, and brought it back to Daryl. I held the drink in front of him. "I'm not letting you break the laws of peanut butter sandwich eating," I said jokingly, but I was serious. He needed something to drink. He snatched the bottle, and I sat back down beside him, still keeping my distance, just in case. He finished the sandwich and took a sip from the bottle.

"Shit, that's flat," he said quietly. "Can't even tell what kind of soda it was before." He took another sip and set the bottle down on the coffee table.

"The bottle had a Pepsi label on it before I tore it off," I said.

He just made a grunting noise, showing me that he at least heard me. He scanned the coffee table and picked up a picture. It was a picture of his unconscious body with Ella half asleep on his chest. He looked at me with a very confused expression, and he put the photo down. "Cute," he said. The light stopped shining through the curtains, so the living room became dim. Daryl noticed, got up, and moved the curtains slightly to look outside. "Fuck…how long was I out?"

"A few hours," I answered. Daryl put the curtains back to their original position and rubbed the spot where I hit him with his hand. He was thinking of something, I could tell. I stood up. "You're not planning to go back out there right now, are you?" Daryl looked at me, as if I knew what he was thinking of. He looked back at the window.

"Normally I would be going, even around this time of day, but the walkers are already out, and there's a lot of them," he said. He turned to face me again. "Plus, my head still hurts. I think you owe me." I looked to the side and sputtered my lip. "Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" I looked back at Daryl. His eyes were looking through me again, but they seemed calmer than the other times I looked at them for some reason. His eyes actually stood out more than anything else from his grungy appearance. They were…pretty.

"No. After all, it's the least I could do, since, you know… I knocked you out," I chuckled.

"Thanks, Sunshine," he said in a nicer tone of voice.

He called me that again. What the hell?

He walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "About that blow to the head…it's okay. I would've done the same thing with the end of my crossbow." I looked up at him and smiled slightly. "Speaking of which, where's my crossbow?" he asked as he let go of my shoulder.

I jutted my head in the direction to the kitchen. "It's still in the kitchen, along with your other supplies. I'll go get them," I said and turned, but then I turned slightly to look at Daryl. "Next time, don't take my cookies." I turned again and walked to the kitchen to retrieve Daryl's stuff. I came back in a few seconds and placed his bag and crossbow on the coffee table. I heard a series of scratchy meows, and I turned around to see Ella walking in from the hallway.

"Aw," Daryl said. He knelt on knee and held his hand out. "C'mere," he whispered and made kissy sounds. Ella saw him and walked quickly to his hand, and Daryl began scratching the back of her head. She sat down and purred loudly. "Aren't you loud?" Daryl asked the cat. He sat crisscrossed on the floor and petted Ella more. "Did you enjoy sleeping on my chest?"

Seriously, what the hell? This guy was a quiet ass a couple of minutes ago. Now he's all sweet and talking to animals, but I couldn't help but smile a bit. Daryl quickly took his hand away from Ella as she snapped as his fingers and ran away to the kitchen in a flash.

"Crap, did she get you?" I asked, crossing my mental fingers that she didn't. Daryl looked at his finger. There was just a tiny stream of blood running from his index finger. "Shit, she did. I'm so sorry!" I said. Daryl grinned and wiped the blood from his finger with his shirt.

"T's alright. It's just a little bite. I've lived with worse," he said, but blood still ran down his finger from the cut. I knelt beside him and examined the cut Ella left him. It was small, but it was deep, and it was bleeding badly. I shook my head, walked to my backpack, and grabbed the small first aid kit I carried around. I came back to Daryl and sat down beside him.

"Little bite, my ass. I'm not letting that thing get infected," I said. I took out some sterilizing wipes and rubbed the cut with them. He winced a bit at the sudden small pain he might have been experiencing. I took out a needle and some thread, and I began sewing up the cut. He grunted in pain as I did so. When I finished, I wrapped the tip of his finger with a colorful Hello Kitty Band-Aid and a small gauze. "There, that should do something for a while," I said as I cleaned up. Daryl examined his now fixed finger, and then he looked at me.

"You work fast, kid," he said. I sputtered my lip.

"It was just a cut. It was deep, but it doesn't take a surgeon to stitch it up," I replied. I pulled up my pant leg a bit to show Daryl my calf that had a healing cut on it. It was mostly a large scar, but there were still a few scabs that I picked. "I cut my leg on some glass the other week. It didn't take too long to stitch it up and what not. I'm glad I had some sewing stuff and bandages with me at the time," I said as I covered my leg back up. "Because that happened, I always carry sewing supplies with me." Daryl looked at me with concern.

"How deep was the cut if you had to stitch it up?"

I looked up to think. "About a centimeter deep?" I asked myself. I wasn't really sure, but it was really deep.

"Was anyone with you?" he asked me. I looked into his blue eyes again. He seemed worried.

"No," I answered, "No one was with me. I actually haven't been with anyone in a few months."

"You've just been by yourself?" I nodded. "How old are you?"

"Does it really matter how old I am?" I asked sternly. Daryl sighed.

"I guess not," he replied.

I readjusted my glasses. "But…I'm sixteen, since you asked."

Daryl looked to the side, then back at me. "Have you ever been in a group?"

"Yeah. Five."

"What happened to them?" I gave him a blank expression. He waved his hand. "Forget about it. Sorry that I asked."

I chuckled. "No, it's alright. I wasn't too attached them," I said. "Every single group I joined turned into a bunch of shitheads. I either killed, stole, or ran from them in the end."

"Oh," Daryl said. "Is that all you did?"

"Yeah. They were all dicks. I kind of knew that they would turn bad on me at some point. I just don't trust groups anymore. Fuck, I don't even trust people." I gave him a look.

"Then why did you join them?" he asked me.

I thought for a bit. "For a selfish reason. I didn't want to be alone..."

Daryl just groaned in response, and there was another short silence. I know, it was a stupid reason, but it was true. I hated to be alone, but I also hate losing people I cared for. That's why I wasn't attached to any of my groups. That and I hate assholes.

"Do you have a group?" I asked. Daryl looked at me.

"No," he said. My gut told me he was lying, but I couldn't accuse of him of it and arguing wouldn't lead me anywhere. I just nodded my head.

"Okay." My eyes started to hurt. The living room was getting dark, and my eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the little light the curtains gave. I stood up and began lighting up a few candles with a lighter. "I swear, I feel like it's getting darker quicker nowadays," I said.

"Yeah, same here," Daryl said has he got up. He looked out the corner of the window again. I walked up beside him.

"How many are out there?" I asked. Daryl fixed the curtains and groaned.

"Just a few walkers now," he replied.

"Ah. So," I continued and he looked at me, "you call them walkers?"

Daryl nodded a bit. "Yeah. What do you call them?"

"I call them drunkies," I answered. Daryl chuckled a bit.

"Why?"

"Well, they look like really drunk people. They look less scary if you imagine them like that."

"Heh, I guess you're right."

"But, the name you call them sounds better. It sounds both cool and menacing," I smiled.

"You can call them whatever, Sunshine, but I'll always see them as flesh-eating fuckers," he said in a cold voice. I stopped smiling and just looked at him.

"Why do you call me that?" I asked.

Daryl looked at me funny. "Call you what?" he said as he crossed his arms.

"Sunshine, what else?" I barked, "That was the only name you called me by ever since I told you my name." It really was irritating me.

"I don't know," Daryl answered, "I just call girls that sometimes." I groaned in disgust.

"Just girls? Do you give little pet names to guys too?" Daryl just looked at me with anger in his eyes.

"I just call people names. Would you prefer me calling you a bitch, because you're acting like one right now." I walked up to him to look at him dead in the eye.

"I prefer you calling me by my fucking name!" I backed off and turned to face the couch. "I hate pet names…fucking ass…," I mumbled. I heard Daryl walk up behind me.

"I'm not giving you any god damn pet name!" he snapped. I turned to face him again.

"Then what hell is it?" I asked, "Why do you call girls that?" Daryl just looked at me. He looked down and shook his head. "Well?"

He looked at me again. "I don't fucking know, Bec," he said calmly, emphasizing the name. "I just call them that." At least he called me a nickname of my nickname.

"Okay," I sighed. Daryl turned and looked through the peephole of the front door.

"Good, they didn't hear us," he said. He faced me. "I reckoned they did."

"Mm," I groaned. Daryl walked passed me and I heard the crushing sound of the couch cushions. I just stood where I was, staring at the door.

"Hey," I heard Daryl say. I turned my head a bit to look at him. "Sorry." It sounded forced, but the way he said it made me feel better. It's been a while since I heard that word from someone besides myself.

"It's okay…Sunshine," I smirked. I saw him leaned forward and bury his face in his hand and shake his head. I could tell he was smiling, because his cheeks rose to his eyes. And I was right. He uncovered his face, and he was smiling. Not as much as I thought, but he was smiling. It was more of a half-assed smirk, and that made me happy. I looked at the clock, which still had the same time it always had. "I think we should get some sleep. You especially if you want to leave early," I suggested.

Daryl nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think we should, even though I slept most of the time I was here." I chuckled and sat down in the chair beside the couch and reclined it.

"Goodnight," I said as I turned over to my side to face the man.

"G'night," there was a pause before he said, "Becca." He turned so his back was toward me. I couldn't help but smile. He called me by my name. Well, not really my name.

"Hey, Daryl?" I called out.

"Yeah?" he muffled.

"My name is Rebecca. I just thought I'd let you know," I said quietly. He turned a bit so he could see me.

"I prefer Becca," he said. He went back into his original position. I didn't fall asleep yet. I watched him until I heard him snore lightly. I watched Daryl sleep a little more until I finally drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to a beam light stabbing me through my eyelids. I hate it when the sun finds the smallest opening between my curtains and gets me. I got up from the recliner and opened the curtains a bit to let in the morning light. The road was clear of Walkers, and from what I could tell from the position of the sun, I could say it was around ten o'clock. I turned towards the couch. Daryl was still there, the front of his body facing towards the ceiling. His arms were crossed, and they slowly went up and down along with his chest. Ella was curled up beside the couch, and I could hear her wheezing snores. I reached inside my back and pulled out a can of tomato soup. As soon as I opened it, Ella woke up and ran up to me. I poured a little into my hand and sat down for her to drink from as I drank the rest. She licked what was left and ran to the kitchen to eat what I assumed was cat food, because I heard crunching from there.

Daryl woke up about thirty minutes after I did. I gave him a can of soup, and he couldn't help but give a little to Ella from his hand. After he finished the soup, he got up from the couch, grabbed his bag and crossbow, and stood in front of the door. I opened it and walked him to the middle of the front yard.

"Hey, thanks for letting me stay here for the night," Daryl said.

"You're welcome," I said back with a small smile. "Is your head okay?" His bruise was just a small spot of a light purple color. He nodded a bit.

"Yeah, it's okay," he answered back.

"That's good," I said. There was another silence. "You know you don't have to go. You can bunker down here."

A walker was seen in the distance. "No. I should get going. I have a goal to get to," Daryl said. I nodded.

"Okay then," I said. "Good luck out there." Daryl readjusted his crossbow that was slung over his back.

"I'll be alright," he said, "You keep yourself out of trouble, okay?" I chuckled.

"I will, Daryl."

"Okay then. See you around," he said as he turned. I grabbed his arm, and he flinched and turned back around to face me.

"Wait, I have something for you! Be right back," I said as I ran into the house before he could say another word. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the little doll I made yesterday. I ran back outside, and Daryl was still in the middle of the yard. I stopped in front of him and held up the doll. "I made this yesterday," I panted, "After seeing how you looked, I put this little guy together." Daryl took the small doll slowly. It rested perfectly in his hand. "It looks like a piece of crap, I know." Daryl shook his head.

"Naw, it looks nice." I smiled. "I like it," he said as he placed it inside his bag. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I said. I gave Daryl a hug, and he wrapped his free arm around me and patted my head. I let go. "Please be careful," I said with concern. The man just grinned.

"I will," he said. He turned around and started to walk away. I stood still as I watched his body fade. He never looked back at me. I just watched him walk out of the neighborhood. When he was out of my sight, I went back inside the house, locked the door behind me, and sat down at a table in the kitchen. I started to work with a doll I started a couple of weeks ago. Ella jumped onto the table and began to mess around with a square of fabric. All was quiet.

"This sucks," I said to Ella. "I actually miss him." He was actually the best company I've had in a long time. Despite the fact I had Ella with me, I was alone. I had no one to look up to or to take care of me or have me take care of him or her. I stopped working and rested my head in my arms on the table. I sighed solemnly and looked at the front door. I shook my head and continued working on my doll. About an hour of slow progress passed. I nearly jumped out of my chair when I heard a knock at my door. I slowly stood up and walked quietly to the front door, a ready-to-stab knife in my hand. I looked through the peephole. "Jesus fuck," I said to myself. I opened the door to get a full view of Daryl. "What the hell are you doing here?" Daryl just sighed.

"Do you want to come with me?"

Without giving it a second thought (not even thinking actually), I said "Yes!" I guess I said it a bit too eagerly, because Daryl widened his eyes and gave me a funny look of confusion. I cleared my throat. "Um, I'll go pack my stuff," I said.

"Okay. Don't take too long," he said, "I'll wait out here." Before I closed the door, Ella slipped out, and Daryl caught her before she could run to far away. "We'll take this piece of fur with us." I chuckled and closed the door. I just packed my essentials in my backpack: food, water, some clothes, and medical supplies. I placed my baseball bat inside the holding strap on the side of my bag. I put on my backpack and grabbed my satchel, which has a few miscellaneous items in it and my gun. The only thing I had to leave behind were my dolls, which were just stuffed piece of crap. I came back outside and locked the front door behind me with a key. Daryl passed me Ella, and I cradled her in my arms. "You ready?" he asked in a slight southern accent I realized he had.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I'm ready." Daryl nodded his head, turned around, and started walking in the direction he was before. I followed close behind him. We walked in silence for the first couple of miles. There were no walkers to deal with and all was peaceful. I was the one who broke the silence. "Daryl?" I said. He kept walking, but he turned his head a bit. I shrugged my shoulders. "Why did you come back?" He stopped walking. I stopped in my tracks, and the man turned more to face me. I was just standing there, waiting for his answer.

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**To be continued…**


	2. Chapter 2: Acceptance

**You Keep Me Going**

**Chapter 2: Acceptance**

**I can type really fast if I posted the first chapter ten minutes ago and then already write the second chapter and post it. Don't be surprised, because this is pre-written. How do y'all like the story so far? Reviews will be great ^ w ^**

**I do not own The Walking Dead! Enjoy! Kthxbai -zooms-  
**

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"Why did you come back?" Daryl stopped walking. I stopped in my tracks, and the man turned more to face me. I was just standing there, waiting for his answer.

"To give you a chance," Daryl said to me.

"What chance?" I asked. There was a short silence.

"Just a chance." He turned and started to walk again. I followed and readjusted my arms for Ella. We turned and started to walk on the highway that led out of the neighborhood I lived in. It's been a long while since I walked down this highway. I've just been living off of the local stores and abandoned restaurants, so I didn't have to return down this way much. I remembered running down this highway. I was still running from my last group. I stole from them and killed some of its men. I had no idea how close they were to me. I still don't know now. We walked for about an hour until I saw a Target sign. I remembered the general area being a shopping plaza. There were all sorts of stores here and there. Only a few tiny clusters of walkers were near a few stores, but they didn't seem to notice us when we walked by. In the direction we were heading in, there was a large building that looked like a community center. There was even one of those fenced in water parks outside of it. It looked run down and dirty. There were dead bodies and broken cars scattered about the parking lot.

"Is this your goal you mentioned earlier?" I asked as I looked at the sign that was towering over the entrance of the parking lot. The sign was broken and only the word 'Family' could be seen, and even that was barely there.

"Sort of," I heard Daryl say. He led me to the main entrance of the building. As we were walking, I could have sworn I saw someone in one of the second story windows, but it was probably a Walker, and the figure just left. "Just stay out here for a bit, okay?" he said as we stopped in front of two large doors. The glass was boarded up, so I couldn't see inside. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Um...why?" I asked sternly. Before I could ask anything else, Daryl raised his hand.

"Just wait here, okay?" He opened the door.

"Daryl, you can't-," but he cut me off.

"Wait here!" he snapped and walked into the building so fast that I wasn't able to catch the closing door with my foot. As soon as I tried to pull the door with one hand, it was locked, as well as the other door.

"Daryl! What the hell?!" I yelled in anger. I knelt down and put Ella inside my backpack. "Sorry, Ella, this will be for a short while." I zipped up the bag, and I could hear her meowing in agony. I stood up and placed the slightly heavier bag on my back. I heard snarling and turned. A small herd of walkers were coming my way from the parking lot entrance. "Shit." I could have fought them off, but I didn't want to risk attracting more. I started to run, and I was searching for a way inside. I saw a side door. Like the entrance, it was boarded up and locked. I picked up a nearby iron pipe and tried to pry one of the boards off to break the glass. "Fuck!" I pulled the pipe out. I turned and was face to face with a walker. It pushed me down, and I was pushing it back with the pipe as it tried to bite me. I quickly pushed the pipe into the walker's mouth and pushed it to the side. I got up and slammed the end of the pipe into its eye. I pulled it out and a trail of blood and brain flew out with it. I ran around the rest of the building. All of the doors were locked.

"I don't fucking believe this," I mumbled. I walked to the front of the building, and about thirty walkers were there in the parking lot. One of them saw me and snarled loudly, catching the attention of a few others. I quickly turned and ran to the back of the building, panicking for an entrance. I could have run away, but another group of walkers was seen in the distance. I ran into a small alley and found a ladder that led to the roof. I started to climb the rusty thing. It creaked for every move I made. When I was halfway up the ladder, it gave way and I fell. I turned my body at the last second so I could land on my stomach and not on my back. I got up and nearly screamed at the immense pain I was experiencing. I looked up and the ladder was broken. Pieces of it were on the ground and the portion of the ladder that stay intact was far beyond my reach. But the holding was still there. I turned as I heard a snarl. There was no walker, but it was close. I strapped the pipe onto my bag, adding it to my inventory of melee weapons. I then wedged myself in the corner with my bag towards where the walls met and place my hands and feet on the walls. I started to climb my way up the corner like a spider. A walker appeared in the entrance of the alley, and it looked hungrily at me as it limped towards me. "Shit!" I could feel Ella squirm, and she was making me lose my grip. I only had one shot to jump to the holding and climb the rest of the ladder. More walkers filed in, so if I missed, I'm screwed. I grabbed onto the jutting edges of the bricked walls and pushed off with my legs. I grabbed the holding and reached my hand towards the steps of the ladder. I smiled with victory as I climbed and walked onto the roof.

I walked towards the front of the building, and the walkers in the parking lot were just roaming back and forth in all directions. They seemed to have forgotten me, and that was good. I looked to the side and saw a door to, hopefully, an enclosed stairwell. "Please, don't be locked," I said to myself. I approached the door and turned the knob. It made a rustic click but the door wouldn't open. I pulled and pushed but nothing would budge. "Come on!" I yelled. I began searching around and I found a small toolbox. I opened it and a fillip's head screwdriver was in it along with some more junk. I took it and ran back to the door. I tried to unscrew the hinges on the door, but they were rusted in place.

I repeatedly cursed. I decided to do the same thing I did when I first got into my house. I wedged the point of the screwdriver into the side of the door, and I shimmied the screwdriver while turning the knob. With one powerful push, the door broke open, along with the screwdriver. An old rusty smell came from within. I closed the door as I entered the stairwell. Only a tiny beam of light shined through the small window of the little building. I walked down the stairs, and I was soon engulfed in darkness. I managed to find a door and opened it slowly to the second floor of the building. I sighed with relief. I started to make my around the area to find Daryl and have a talk with him. I was pissed. He shouldn't have left me outside. I don't care if he started to yell at me, but I know that I'll be yelling at him.

"-the girl!" I heard a familiar voice yell out. It sounded far and faint.

"She had to run! You left her no choice but to, Daryl!" I heard another voice. "You can't just leave a little girl out there with that herd coming!" The voice became inaudible as yelling from multiple people was heard. I sneaked to what seemed to be the lobby of the community center, and I knelt as I crawled to the railing to find a large gathering of people. I counted fifteen of them. In front of them were Daryl and a guy with brown shaggy hair and a beard. Daryl lied to me. He had a group.

"Well, I didn't know that herd was gonna show up!" Daryl yelled.

"We have to look for her," a boy with a sheriff's hat said.

"How do we know she's here?" an Asian guy asked. Daryl walked over to a table and picked up his crossbow and he loaded an arrow.

"Don't know, but I'm searching the damn area," Daryl said. He had a really serious look on his face, and that loaded arrow was probably for me.

"Don't go killing her," the shaggy-haired bearded man said, raising a hand trying to calm the man.

"I'm not gonna kill her," Daryl said walking away, "I'm just gonna shoot her leg." He walked through a door and he was gone. The bearded man looked at the group.

"Everyone else search the perimeter. Beth," he said to a young blonde woman holding a baby, "take Judith back to your room and stay put. Maggie, you go with her."

"Yes, sir," the blonde said quickly. Another young woman with short brown hair nodded and followed the girl out of the lobby. The crowd dispersed with weapons in their hands. Before the boy and an old woman left, the shaggy-haired bearded man stopped them.

"Carl, Carol," I heard the man mumble, "You guys stay here and block the door. Daryl could have brought in a threat."

"Okay dad," the little boy, probably Carl, said as the other woman, which I assumed was Carol, nodded. The father left, leaving the two alone guarding the exit. I backed away from the railing and crawled to another room. I got up and took out my iron pipe.

_I have to get out of here_, I thought to myself. I didn't know the reason why Daryl didn't tell me he had a group, but now they are looking for me. I only had a few bullets with my gun and my bat wouldn't last long in a fight. My knife could only do so much, and I didn't want to kill anyone at the moment.

"She's in the building!" I heard a woman's voice in the hallway. I ducked behind a counter in the corner of the room I was in.

"How do you know?" another voice said, a man.

"The door to the stairwell on the roof- the lock is broke. She has to be here! I posted Tyresse and Glenn to guard the other entrances and Bob and Sasha are on the roof."

"How do you know she didn't leave already?"

"All of the entrances are locked and guarded, and why would she come in here just to leave immediately?" the woman said. _So I could not die._ "There's no way she could have left."

"We'll keep searching then," the man said. I heard someone walk away and someone walk into the room I was in. I heard the person moving stuff around. The footsteps were getting closer. I tightened my grip on my pipe. The shaggy-haired guy approached the corner where I was hiding. I sprang up with my legs and jumped the counter as I ran from the room. "Hey!" the man yelled. He caught up to me and he wrapped his arms around my neck. I elbowed him in the nose, and I slipped out to run. I ran through the hallway, and a girl with a short brown ponytail ran out of a room. I bashed into her, and we both fell to the ground. I heard Ella yelp from my bag.

"Was that a cat?!" the girl asked. I took the opportunity of the confusion and got up to run, but the woman grabbed my leg, and I fell down again. I kicked her head, and she yelled as she let go. I got up again and ran. I flinched as a bullet hit the wall next to me, but I kept running.

"Don't shoot her!" I heard the man yell from behind me. I ran into an exercise room and turned sharply to another door that led to the hallway again.

"She went through here!"

"Fuck," I said. I kept running and ended up running inside an office area. I closed the door, locked it, and pushed a really heavy and large desk in front of it. Someone was banging on the door.

"Shit, she locked it!" a woman said. There had to be another door to somewhere from this place. I looked all over. I finally found one.

"Yes," I yelled out, but when I opened it, it turned out to be a closet. I looked up, and there was a large vent on the ceiling of the closet. It seemed cliché, but I had no other choice. I grabbed a chair and brought it inside the closet. I got up on the chair and tried to unscrew the vent with my pocket knife. No use. The people were still trying to get the door open.

"Fuck it," I heard a man yell out. I heard a gunshot. I heard the door open a bit, but then it stopped when it hit the desk. The man yelled out, and the voice sounded more clearly. The sound of the desk scraping against the ground meant that the person was pushing the door open.

I put my knife away in my pocket and pulled out my gun. I shot two corners of the vent, and I pried the rest open. I put my gun back in my bag and climbed in the vent. My ears were ringing and were in pain, but as I crawled through the air ducts, I heard the yelling of a man as he entered the room.

I pulled out a small flashlight from my satchel and turned it on. The light hurt my eyes, and I kept crawling. When I crawled to the first vent I saw, I unlatched it and climbed down into a locker room. I found a door and opened it, turning off my flashlight and placing it back in my satchel. I walked into a stairwell. I kept walking downstairs until I came inside a room that led to the indoor pool of the building. I was in the back of the building. I entered the room with the pool and saw an exit sign on the other side as a smell of chlorine hit my nose.

"Alright," I said as I ran to the door, but when I tried to open the door, it was locked, as stated by one of the women. "Fuck," I said as I punched the door. I took a step back and pulled out my gun. I aimed at one of the glass panels of the door and shot it, making my ears ring again and making a spider web of cracks on the glass. I kicked the panel and it fell to pieces. I climbed through it, and I was in the fenced in outdoor pool. The water was filthy and the large slide was covered in mold. Trash was everywhere and there was an empty concession bar beside me. I began running to the fence to jump it but something grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me down. I twisted to land on my side so I wouldn't crush Ella, who was thrashing about in my backpack. I looked up to find Daryl's crossbow pointed at my head. A buff looking black man made me stand up and he took off my bags as the shaggy-haired man took my gun and handcuffed me behind my back. I looked at Daryl menacingly.

"You're lucky I was disobedient enough to leave the parking lot, y' dick," I barked.

"It wasn't my fucking fault that herd came over because of yer' goddamn yelling!" he yelled and walked up into my face.

"I didn't have to yell if you'd just let me the fuck in!" The man who handcuffed me pulled me back away from Daryl.

"Stop yelling, both of you!" he commanded through clenched teeth like a mother ordering her two children to stop fighting. I looked at the man's face, and his nose was slightly swollen with blood splattered across his mouth from when I elbowed his nose. "We don't need any more attention." The black man grabbed my bags and started to walk back inside.

"Be careful with the bags! There's a cat in one of them," I yelled to the man. He turned to give me a confused look. He opened the backpack slightly, and Ella's head popped up with her ears slanted back. The man gave me one last look before he walked through the door I broke open back into the building. Daryl walked passed me. He gave me the stink eye as I stuck my tongue out on him. The other man pushed me forward to walk. The two of us followed Daryl inside. We walked through a small hallway and entered the lobby, which had an eating area to the left and more exercise equipment to the right.

"Daryl, bring this girl to the utility closet and watch her. Make sure she doesn't elbow you or something," the shaggy-haired man said, clearly pointing out the fact that I hit his nose. He took out some keys and tossed them to Daryl.

"Alright," he said gruffly. Daryl grabbed the back of my shirt and he led me to the utility closet, which is what I guess his group used as a prison hold. "Hold on," he said. We both stopped walking and he tried to put his hand in my right pocket. I flinched and fell backwards.

"What the hell?!" I yelled, blushing a lot. Daryl chuckled.

"Don't flatter yourself, princess," he smirked. He could tell I was pissed about the name he just called me by the expression on my face. He knelt beside me and grabbed the back of my shirt again. "I know where you keep your knife." Daryl put his hand inside my pocket and pulled out my pocket knife. He slid it across the floor to the shaggy-haired man's feet. Daryl helped me up and continued to lead me to the closet.

Daryl used the keys to unlock a large door. He opened it and pushed me inside. He turned on a lantern, which glowed softly. "I'll come get you once we have settled things here," he said plainly. I just narrowed my eyes at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a group?" I asked. Daryl scoffed.

"I'm just trying to protect people here," he answered. He was closing the door quickly, and I placed my foot right between the entrance and the closing door. A pop was heard as I winced in pain when the door slammed against my foot.

"We weren't done talking!" I yelled, "If you wanted to protect people, why did you bring me here only to have your group see me as a potential threat?!" Daryl stomped on my toes, and, after a crack was heard, I pulled back, and he slammed the door and locked it. "You dick! Answer me!" I yelled even louder. I heard him walking away and whistling. I screamed out his name, and I was slamming my shoulders against the door. "I knew I should have smacked that bat harder against your head, you fucking asshole!" I turned around and leaned my back against the door. The lantern gave very little light. There was a broken water heater, a smelly mop, and a few shelves of cleaning stuff. I looked up. There was a vent, but a very small one. Even if it was big, there were no tools or anything to take it down. When my eyes adjusted more to the light, there was a large spot of splattered blood and a gunshot hole on the wall. The blood smelled and looked old. I didn't know how long these people were here, so they could have shot someone in here long ago. I slid down against the door until I hit the ground. "Why the fuck did I say yes?" I asked myself. Why did I say yes to Daryl? Why did I go with him? I guess I knew my answer, because I remembered what I told Daryl yesterday.

_"For a selfish reason. I didn't want to be alone...,"_ I recalled saying to him. I came with him for that reason. I didn't want to be alone, yet I was alone at the moment. I looked around the closet again. I didn't even have to move my head. I just looked with my eyes. I pulled my knees up and rested my forehead on them. I began to cry. "I'm such an idiot," I sniveled quietly, "A fucking idiot." I only felt a few tears come out. After that, I stopped crying. I had no reason to cry. I got into this mess on my own terms, and I shouldn't cry for it.

I was in the closet for about two hours now. I would drift off to sleep every now and then only to jolt right awake. I would hear someone yell around the same time, but then it would quiet down right after that. After what seemed to be thirty minutes later, I just started to repeatedly tap the back of my head against the door. I heard talking and footsteps approaching the door. I quickly got up on my knees and stood up. I heard unlocking, and the door opened as I turned. The shaggy-haired man was looking at me, and he motioned me to come out. I walked out with caution and the Asian man and the little boy were standing there, the little boy aiming his gun at me. He was slightly shorter than me and seemed to be my age.

"Carl, lower the gun," the man behind me said in a slightly southern accent. The kid groaned and lowered his gun. "She should not be a threat to us anymore." I turned to him.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked sternly, "You're not gonna kill me, are you?" The shaggy-haired man sighed.

"Our group doesn't go that low to killing strangers who are kids," he said calmly. That made me feel better, but I still felt a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry, kid," a voice said. I turned to see that the Asian was talking to me. His voice sounded higher than the boy, who I recalled was Carl. "We won't do anything," he smiled, and I returned a small one.

"Yet," Carl stated. I shot him a look, and his eyes glared.

"Carl," the shaggy-haired man snapped. He walked in front of me. His nose looked better. "We won't," he reassured me.

"But, still, don't do anything stupid," the Asian man said.

"Yeah," the shaggy-haired man agreed. "Follow me." He started to walk and I followed behind him with the others trailing behind me. I turned a bit at one point. The Asian man smiled while Carl just gave me a bad look.

"Nice hat, Woody," I said out loud, addressing Carl. The two men laughed a bit. I heard the boy sputter his lip.

"Thanks," he said. The shaggy-haired man led me to the eating area in the lobby. The large group I saw earlier was there. They all looked at us as we entered the area. Daryl was leaning against the wall eating an apple with one hand and holding his crossbow in the other hand. I gave him a look of anger, and he looked away. We stopped and the shaggy-haired man took off the handcuffs, and I rubbed my wrists. The man held out his hand.

"I'm Rick," he said, and I shook his hand. "That's my son, Carl, and that's Glenn," he pointed to the Asian man, who waved, "his wife Maggie," he pointed to the girl with short brown hair, "her sister Beth and my daughter, Judith, the one she's carrying." The sisters nodded their head, and the baby looked at me with wide eyes. "That's Tara, Sasha, Rosita," he pointed at the girl I kicked in the head, the one with the small ponytail, a slightly dark skinned girl, and a woman with long pigtails sticking out of her hat, "Michonne," he addressed a black woman who was holding Ella.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," I replied and she gave me a reassuring smile.

"That's Tyresse and Bob," he pointed to the buff black man who took my stuff and a skinnier black man, who had a black eye for some reason, "Abraham, Eugene, and Carol," he finished off with a ginger, a guy with a mullet, and a woman with short gray hair, the one who was guarding the front door with Carl earlier . "You already know Daryl," Rick said quietly in my ear. I sputtered my lip. "Everyone, this is Becca." I got nods, waves, and greetings. "Welcome to the group, kid," he patted my shoulder and walked away. Carol was the first to walk up to me.

"Come with me, sweetie," she spoke in the most relaxing voice I've heard in years, "I fixed you and your cat some food." I smiled and followed her to one of the tables. She passed me a plate with bread and a small chunk of beef.

"Thank you," I said kindly. She smiled and walked away. I took a small bite out of the bread, and Michonne walked up and sat across from me, still holding Ella.

"You're cat is a sweetie," she said to me, "She likes to play with my hair." I chuckled. I leaned over a bit to scratch Ella with my finger. She lightly bit my finger before I returned eating. "Did she really bite Daryl?" she asked me quietly. I nodded.

"Yeah." Michonne playfully scoffed.

"He's more of a squirrel man," she said.

"Why?" I smiled.

"He's a hunter. He can track down squirrels, rabbits, deer," she paused a bit to think, "Man."

"A crossbow is a good weapon. Nice and quiet," I said. I turned my head to see if Daryl heard my compliment. He looked in the other direction as soon as he saw me. I chuckled and looked at the girl I kicked in the head. I got up and walked towards her.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," I said awkwardly, "Look, I'm really sorry my foot kissed your head." She chuckled and waved her hand.

"It's okay. You didn't do any damage," she smiled. I smiled back. I haven't smiled this much in a long time. Tara held her fist up. "Pound it." I pounded her fist, both of us doing that hand explosion thing in the end. I sat back down across Michonne and continued eating. We had a ten minute conversation about cats. After I finished eating, I brought my plate to a small wash tub Carol led me to, and I went about my day. The afternoon sun was shining through the top windows, and I felt warm and safe.

"Hey, Becca," I heard Rick call out. I went to him, and Tyresse was standing beside him, holding my bags. He gave them to me, and I put them on.

"Thanks," I said to him.

"You're welcome," he said in a deep voice. "All of you're stuff should be in there."

"Yo, Ty, come over here and help me with this game," a man who I remembered was Bob yelled out from the eating area. He was playing a card game with Michonne and Rosita with Abraham and Mullet Guy watching them.

"Be right there," he yelled out, "See you around, Bec," Tyresse said to me before walking off.

"Bob sucks at poker," Rick said. "Anyway, follow me. I'll show you where you can sleep for now." I nodded and I followed him up the stairs to the second floor. We turned into a hallway and he opened a door to a small lounge. There was a couch, a small table in front of the couch, another table with some chairs in the corner, an entertainment center with a TV with a hole in it, and a few other things like fake plants, books, pictures of nature, ect.. There was a small window with closed curtains, which lit up the room a bit, and there were scattered unlit candles. I entered and it felt like I was in a dorm for college. I turned to Rick.

"Hey, thanks for accepting me into your group," I said. Rick smiled.

"Your welcome." I put my bags on the couch.

"Let's see...I knocked Daryl out, attracted a herd of walkers, broke into your group's building, elbowed you in the nose, kicked Tara in the head, and broke one of your doors with a gunshot that probably attracted more walkers, yet you still let me stay with you guys. Why did y'all accept me?" I asked. I really was wondering.

"Well, for starters, you took care of Daryl after you knocked him out. You should consider yourself lucky. If you weren't a kid, he probably would have attacked you, tied up or not. Hell, he could have killed you." I chuckled a bit.

"Tied up or _knot_," I said, emphasizing the last word. Rick looked down and shook his head as he groaned.

"God, that was awful," he chuckled. He looked back at me. "Daryl said he came back for you."

"Yeah," I said.

"Do you know why?" I shrugged.

"He wanted to give me a chance. That's what he told me," I answered.

"Do you know what that chance was?" I shook my head. "He told us he brought you here to redeem yourself." I gave him a confused expression.

"Redeem myself? From what?" Rick directed me to the couch, and we both sat down.

"He told us about your experiences with your previous groups," Rick said calmly. I looked down a bit. "He told us that you didn't really trust groups, but he also told us the reason why you joined them." I looked into Rick's eyes. He gave me a look. "I'm sure you know the answer."

"Yeah," I groaned, "I didn't want to be alone, but I didn't know he had a group beforehand!" Rick widened his eyes a bit from my sudden outburst. I cleared my throat and apologized. Rick patted my shoulder.

"Someone like Daryl wouldn't just tell anyone he had a group," Rick said as he got up. "He doesn't trust a lot of people." He began walking out of the lounge.

"Do you trust me?" I asked solemnly. The man stopped and turned to look at me.

"For now...yeah," he said walking into the hallway towards the back of the building. After he left, I took my gun out from my satchel. It was a standard .22 caliber pistol. I had it since the outbreak started. I rarely used it, but it was old. I took out the magazine and removed the bullets. I counted three. I groaned to the fact that I wasted three bullets trying to escape, and I began to disassemble and clean up parts of my gun with an old rag. I heard knocking. I looked up to find Daryl standing in the doorway, his blue eyes looking dull this time.

"Hey," he said. I jutted my chin and continued to clean my gun. I saw his hand place my pocket knife he took from me on the table. "Thought I'd give it back." I put down one part of the gun and picked up another to clean.

"Thanks," I said plainly.

"I sharpened it. It was pretty dull."

"Thanks," I said the same way before. There was a long silence. I thought he was gone, but when I grabbed another part of my gun, I saw him through the corner of my eye. "I thought you were going to shoot my leg with your crossbow." I started putting my gun together. I heard him scoff.

"I should've when I had the damn chance," he said in his scratchy voice, "If Tyresse didn't grab ya first, I would've taken you down myself." I placed the loaded magazine back into the gun and placed the firearm on the other side of the table. I looked at the hunter.

"You still could have y'know," I said. "You had that thing right in my face. All you had to do was pull the trigger." Daryl shook his head.

"I said I wanted to take you down, not fuckin' kill ya," he nearly yelled. I got up and walked up to his face again. Well, sort of. I had to tilt my head way back to look at his eyes.

"But you still could have taken me down like you wanted!" I yelled back. Daryl pushed me hard, and I fell on the floor, hitting the side of my head on the table.

"There!" he yelled, "I took you down!" Trying to ignore the pulsing on the side of my head, I stood up, and he walked out. I heard him cursing until I heard a door slam, and all was silent. I slammed my door and leaned my back against it.

"Asshole," I mumbled. I rubbed the pulsing area with my hand as the pain actually started to kick in. I laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. I started to hear yelling down the hall. My name was mention a few times. It was probably Daryl and some other poor bastard that's with him. A few minutes of this passed and things started to quiet down. No one else came to my door. At one point, someone opened the door just enough to let Ella in. She jumped onto the small table and began grooming herself. I didn't want to get up, and I definitely didn't want to go back out knowing that I might bump into Daryl or get a scolding from Rick. The pain started to take the best of me, and I passed out.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3: Fitting in

**You Keep Me Going**

**Chapter 3: Fitting in**

**Here's chapter 3. Hope y'all like it. Reviews will be great ^^**

**Kthxbai -zoom-**

* * *

I woke up a few hours later to a knocking on my door. I sat up slowly and noticed the pain was gone. The room was dark, and very little light entered through the curtain. "C-Come in," I said. The door opened, and Rick poked his head in.

"Good, you're still here," he said. I stood up and readjusted my glasses.

"Why would I not be?" I yawned.

"Well, none of us have seen you since your most recent fight with Daryl," the bearded man answered. "To be honest, I thought you would have been on the roof." I sputtered my lip. "Anyway, dinner is being served right now. Just come down whenever."

"Okay. Thank you," I said kindly. Rick smiled and left, leaving the door open. I grabbed my pocket knife and placed it inside the jacket I was wearing. It was a camouflage thing I found a while back. The name tag it had was Codwell. I tore it off and replaced it with Dodgers, which was my last name. When I got to the lobby, I could see the sun setting through the large windows, and heat lamps were scattered about the area, although the light from them wasn't very warm. About half of the group was present, and they were just socializing. Daryl wasn't in sight. That was good. I didn't want to see him, and I'm pretty sure he didn't want to see me. Maggie handed me a small bowl of beans.

"How are you doing?" she asked sweetly in a southern accent. I smiled.

"I'm doing alright. I just woke up." Maggie chuckled a bit.

"So did I." I said my thanks and I sat down next to Carl on the edge of the platform the eating area was on.

"Hey, Carl," I greeted.

"Hey," he said back to me. I looked at his sheriff hat. It seemed old and a little bit too big for the kid's head.

"Where did you get the hat?" I asked while taking a bite of warm beans. Carl looked at me.

"From my dad," he directed his look towards Rick, "He was a cop before all of this."

"Cool. I knew a cop."

"How did you meet him? Did you get arrested?" he chuckled. I shook my head and smirked.

"Pfft, no. When I was little, he came to where I lived to arrest an employee. I think the guy robbed a bank or something and almost got away with it," I said.

"An employee? Where did you live?"

I swallowed my beans. "An orphanage," I said. Carl's eyes sunk into a sad expression.

"Um...," he said awkwardly, "Sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" I asked.

"Well, I thought I triggered some memory or something," he said. I ate some more beans.

"Dude, it's okay. Trust me, I've told stories from the orphanage many times." I gave Carl a smile, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, good." He ate some beans. "Um, how old were you then?" I twirled the spoon between my fingers.

"I was put into the orphanage when I was eight and about twelve when this outbreak began." Carl just sighed.

"Shit, everything bad happens to everyone," he said. I saw his dad look at us when Carl cursed.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound like an old man, "you better watch your language, you young whippersnapper." I shook my fist at Carl. He laughed and pushed my fist away. We finished our food and got up to clean our bowls. We both walked over to the exercise equipment where Michonne and Glenn were. They seemed to be having a funny conversation.

"I know for a fact that I can do more chin-ups than you," Michonne said smiling. She saw both Carl and I, and she waved.

Glenn waved at us as he talked. "No you can't," he said with a confident grin. I stepped in.

"Michonne looks stronger than you dude," I said.

"See? This girl knows what's what," Michonne said patting my head and pretending to flex with one arm. She did have muscles though. Glenn walked over to a station with some bars hanging above the ground.

"How about a bet? Loser patrols tonight." Michonne shook her head.

"That bet is getting old," she smirked, "How about this?" She reached into a nearby bag and pulled out a pack of skittles. "Whoever wins takes this," Michonne said tossing the candy up and down in her hand.

"Wow, you got a bet," Glenn exclaimed. Michonne tossed me the candy.

"You guys hold that for me for when I win it," she said.

"Yeah, sure, leave two kids to watch over candy," Carl said as I placed the bag of skittles in my jacket pocket. We followed Michonne to the bars, and she and Glenn prepared themselves for the chin-up contest.

"Carl and I can count y'all," I said.

"Cool. Carl and I can share the trophy," Glenn said.

"Yeah right," Michonne said, "Let's start. Go!" The two began at an even and steady pace, and we counted fifteen so far. They started to slow down, and Glenn began to strain.

"Getting tired?" I playfully teased. Glenn looked at me, making another chin-up.

"Hell no," he rasped out.

"You're good, Glenn, but let's see if you can hold your grip," Michonne said with a grin. Hanging from one hand, she used her other hand to tickle Glenn's ribcage.

"H-Hey!" he flinched and fell. Michonne dropped and laughed. "No cheating."

"We never established any rules about cheating," I chuckled. "I counted twenty-five!" Carl placed his hands on his hips.

"Twenty-three," he said. Michonne threw her arms up and did a victory dance, and I high-fived her. I took out the skittles and hand them to her. She opened it and poured a little out for me and herself.

"Come on, you guys. You know me well enough that I share my sweets," she said as she held the bag out to the boys. She poured them some, and we divided the rest amongst ourselves.

"I cannot remember the last time I had skittles," Glenn said, his breath smelling like fruit.

"Michonne is a master at finding candy for reason," Carl said to me. The woman chuckled.

"I wouldn't say master. You're pretty good at sniffing out good stuff as well," Michonne said at Carl, who just smiled and shook his head.

"I just find knick-knacks," I said, popping a skittle in my mouth. "If y'all want to see them, we'll have to trek to my house."

"That sounds fun," Glenn said.

"Speaking of which, we saw that doll you gave Daryl. It was adorable," Michonne said. "You gotta make me one of those."

"Thanks," I responded, "and I have some more at the house." I rummaged the skittles in my hand. "How long have you guys been here?" I asked. Carl adjusted his hat.

"A few days."

"Do you think you'll be staying here long?" I asked.

"Maybe. As long as we have fuel for the generator, we're set," Glenn said.

"Which we're running low on," Carl pointed out.

"Did you guys check the cars outside for fuel?" I asked, finishing off my candy.

"Most of them were dry. We cleaned the rest out when we got here," Michonne said, "but there's still a lot cars in the plaza."

"Plus, there's gas stations all over the place in this area," Glenn said. "I think until we're completely out, we'll just stay here."

"Okay then," I replied. There was a short silence.

"Hey, Becca," Carl called out.

"Yeah?"

"How many chin-ups can you do," he smirked.

"Oh, god, not this again," Glenn said.

"I don't know," I answered, "Probably one."

"Maybe you guys should have a contest," Michonne suggested as she nudged me with her elbow. I looked at Carl with a competitive smirk, and he gave me the same look.

"Yeah, let's see who sucks more," he said.

"You're on," I said. We ran to the bars and jumped up to grab them. Michonne and Glenn crossed their arms and smiled as they watched Carl and I embarrass ourselves. We both did about five until he resulted in kicking our legs for leverage. I built up some form of arm strength from pulling myself over ledges and climbing things, but apparently, doing that didn't give me the strength to win a chin-up contest.

"Agh, this sucks!" Carl blurted out.

"Whoever makes one more is the winner of the Junior Chin-Up Contest," I strained. Both of us bent and released our arms, but none of us were able to make that last one. Glenn walked over to Carl. He grabbed Carl's legs.

"No rules you said," Glenn said as he lifted Carl so he could do a chin-up. Carl jumped down and threw his arms up.

"Yeah! Boys rule!" he shouted and fist bumped Glenn. I got down and rubbed my red hands.

"Damn it," I laughed. Michonne laughed as she tipped Carl's hat.

"Congrats, little dude," she said. I looked at the group, who were looking at us and smiling.

I couldn't believe it. I was in a group for the first time in a long time. They weren't jerks or distant or abusive. They were a community. All of the other groups I was in were either mean to each other or mean to me, especially since I was a kid...and a girl. But everyone here was being nice. I was gaining their trust, and, hopefully, they were gaining mine. After what I did, Rick and his group still brought me in. I smiled at the fact.

I saw Daryl walking down the stairs. He was yawning and his hair was all over the place. Man, everyone was sleeping. He was talking to Maggie as she handed him his bowl of food, and she pointed at me. Daryl looked at me slightly before walking to the wall he was leaning on earlier and started to eat. I directed my attention elsewhere.

"Hey, are you okay, Becca?" Glenn asked me. I looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

"Don't get too worked up on Daryl," he said quietly so the acoustics of the lobby wouldn't catch his voice, "He was a real tough person to get along with." I sputtered my lip as Michonne and Carl agreed with his statement.

"Believe me, I know," I said. The four of us walked to the eating area to meet up with the others. Along the way, Beth and Carol came down with Judith in Carol's arms. I was the first to greet them.

"Hello," I said with a smile. The two greeted me back. I held my hand towards Judith, and she grabbed my thumb as she babbled baby stuff.

"She's so cute," I said softly. The baby looked at me with wide eyes as she continued to hold my thumb. I sighed. "How old is she?"

"About a year old now," Beth said.

"Who's the mom?" I asked. I got a sad silence in response, and I realized the idiot move I made. I slowly pulled away from Judith, who just played with her own fingers. "S-Sorry," I said looking down.

"It's okay, Becca," I heard Carol say. I looked up at her smile, and her eyes showed that everything was okay. "Lori was Rick's wife," she said quietly, "She died when she gave birth to Judith."

"I'm sorry," I said. Beth took my hand.

"You don't need to be sorry," she said kindly. She chuckled a bit. "Did you know that her name wasn't Judith at first?" I smiled a bit, and she let go of my hand.

"What was her name then?" Beth looked at Daryl, who was looking at us.

"Lil' Ass Kicker," she said. Carol rolled her eyes as I laughed. I assumed Daryl gave the baby that name, because Beth said it aloud and he shook his head.

"That's an awesome name," I complemented as I turned my attention to Judith. "Is she talking yet?" The two women shook their head.

"A little bit, she's just babbling away, but she is working on walking," Carol said as she shook the baby a bit. "Do you want to hold her?" I nodded and she carefully placed Judith in my arms, and she began to tug at my hair. I just laughed.

"I've never held a baby before," I said. Beth tilted her head.

"Really?" I nodded a bit.

"Yeah. Never," I said. "I've held animals like this though."

"Were they babies?" Carol asked.

"Some of them."

"Then you held a baby before," she chuckled as she took Judith. "Help me get her food ready, Beth."

"Okay. See you around, Becca," Beth said as she walked off with Carol into the kitchen. I was just standing in my spot now. I looked around to see what else I could do. I glanced over at Daryl, who was still leaning on his wall. He seemed to be shuffling the food in his bowl with his spoon. I began walking towards him, and the world around me grew silent and slow. The only things that seemed to be in regular motion were me and him. I stopped in front of him. He looked up a bit and our eyes met for a second before he lowered his head again. I stood still for a minute. I walked beside him and leaned against the wall and crossed my legs like he was. I just stared at my almost destroyed shoes.

"How are you?" I asked quietly. Daryl put a small amount of beans in his mouth.

"Alright," he said. There was a silence between us. I started to get used to it. That seemed to be our chemistry. I looked at his messy hair, then back at my feet.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

"Yeah."

"That's good."

…

"How's your head?" I looked at him. He was looking at me. His eyes were still dull. They began to mix with his appearance, so they didn't stand out as much the first time I saw them.

"Okay. I fell asleep, so the pain went away." He nodded his head and returned to eating. The world was still silent. I looked around. Tara and Mullet Guy (I know his name was Eugene, but Mullet Guy sounded better) came down the stairs. They were talking, but I couldn't hear them. They didn't even see me. I looked over to Rick, who was talking to Michonne and Carl with a confused face. No one seemed to see me or Daryl. He was the hardest to get to, after all. He probably formed some isolation bubble wherever he goes, and whoever gets sucked into it is isolated from the world as well. The only thing that changed was the lighting in the lobby. Like I said earlier, it was getting darker more quickly.

"Sorry I pushed ya," Daryl finally said. I glanced over to him, who was still looking at his bowl.

"It's okay," I said quietly, "I kind of deserved it." I looked towards the windows. The sky was starting to shift from a dark orange to the dark blue of the night. I heard Daryl scoff.

"Yeah, you kinda did." I just let out a breath of air.

"So," I saw him look at me through the corner of my eye, "you think I can redeem myself of whatever the hell you brought me here for?" Daryl finished off his beans.

"Maybe," he said, "Do you think you can?" I nodded my head a bit.

"You're not gonna steal from us or kill us in the end?"

"Yeah. I'm not gonna do that."

"Do you think we're gonna hurt you?" I looked at him.

"Unless I do something stupid, then no." I forced out a small smile.

"Good." He stood up straight and walked away to the kitchen. As he was leaving, the world wasn't silent anymore, and things were back in motion. I decided to start walking around the first floor of the building. I followed some wires into the gymnasium, where a few heat lamps were lit up, and a low hum from the generator made my ears buzz. The place seemed clean and the smell of rotting bodies was bare. I picked up a nearby basketball and shot it to a hoop. It got stuck in that tiny space between the hoop and the backboard, and I lowered my shoulders.

"You gotta be kidding me." Still wanting to shoot a basketball, I searched for another ball. I opened up two large doors that led into a large supply closet most gyms had. I stepped inside and tried to look for a basketball in the darkness of the closet. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I found one of those large blocks with an archery target on it. It looked new, and it felt firm as I rubbed my fingers against it. I moved some clutter and dragged the block out on its rusty wheels to see if there was any more junk behind it. I looked around the closet more and found a compound bow. I picked it up, and I could tell it was mostly for kids like me. It was light, and I could easily hold it up with one arm. I remembered when I went to a summer camp before my dad died. One of the activity directors taught me how to shoot a bow. It was a traditional bow, like the one Robin Hood used. I sucked of course. I never hit the middle, but it was a good experience. I pulled the drawstring back on the compound bow. It was hard, but it wasn't used a lot. I found some arrows on a shelf, and I walked out of the closet to set up the equipment I just found, ignoring that I was supposed to be looking for a basketball.

I pushed the target against the wall of the gym, and I walked to the point between the target and the center of the gym, so about thirty-five feet. I loaded an arrow, stood the proper stance, and pulled back. My arms shook a bit as I tried to aim. I let go, and the arrow pierced the white part of the target. I wasn't even close to the colored part. I almost missed the whole thing.

"Damn it," I muttered, and I loaded and pulled back another arrow. I adjusted the sightings along the target. I held my breath so my arms wouldn't shake as much, and I fired. The arrow whistled through the musty air and it struck between the center and the outer ring of the target. I smiled a bit as I loaded another arrow. I stood still for a moment before holding the bow up and pull the arrow back. I really concentrated on this one. I held my breath and focused my eye on the sightings and the target, so everything else around me became a blur. I let go with a grunt, and the arrow hit the middle. Not the bull's eye, but the ring just before the bull's eye. It was probably a lucky shot, but it was a major victory for me. I pumped the air with my fist as I made whooping sounds. I felt the adrenaline running through me now. I had to shoot one more. I loaded the last arrow I brought and pulled it back. I wanted to hit the center of the target. I was in the zone. I focused so much that I disconnected my hearing. Everything was silent, and everything but the sightings and the target was blurry. I held by breath. My arms hurt, but they were steady. I was going to make this. A second before I released the drawstring, an arrow flew in from behind me. It hit dead center, but its sudden appearance made me flinch, and my arrow hit the wall, breaking it into two pieces. I quickly turned and grunted in frustration. "Damn it! You messed me up," I barked at Daryl, who was a few feet away from me.

"You're a fast learner on that thing," Daryl smirked. He was holding his crossbow over his shoulder like he just won something.

"For someone like me, it's just luck," I scoffed as I made my way towards the target, and Daryl walked beside me.

"Luck or not, it could save your life," he said. I pulled out my arrows.

"Have you ever used a bow like this?" I asked as he pulled his arrow out.

"Yeah, but I prefer this baby," Daryl answered. He reloaded his crossbow.

"Hey, now you have more arrows," I said as I handed him my arrows, "There could be more in the supply closet." He took them and examined them.

"These could work," he said, "but they're kiddie ones. Not sure how long they'll last." He placed them on top of the target block. "Maybe you should keep them for your bow." I leaned the compound bow against the wall.

"Eh, it's not my cup of tea," I said.

"Okay then." Daryl looked up at the windows in the gym. I looked at them too, and I saw the night and its stars. The heat lamps were our only light, and they shone the room poorly. "We should head back to the lobby," I heard him say. I turned.

"Yeah, we should." Daryl nodded his head a bit before walking, but then he stopped. He looked at me.

"Have you ever shot one of these before?" Daryl asked, addressing his weapon. I shook my head.

"No, but isn't it no different than a rifle?" I asked. Daryl bobbed his head from side to side.

"Sort of. Have you shot a rifle before?" I nodded. I stole a rifle from one of my groups and I had that for a while. Let's just say that someone threw it over a bridge a long time ago. "C'mere then." I stood beside him, and we faced the target. He handed me the crossbow. "Hold it like a rifle." I held it like he said, but it felt awkward.

"I can't line anything," I said. I felt a bit embarrassed. I knew how to hold a rifle, but I couldn't hold Daryl's crossbow correctly. It was heavy and had the same build as a rifle, but I couldn't hold it, and my head wasn't resting on the end of it like it should.

"Hm. Hold on." He took the crossbow and shifted the stock to a smaller length. _Wow, I should have thought of that_,I thought as my I.Q. lowered a bit. He handed it back to me. "Better?" he asked as he crossed his arms. I held it up, and my head rested on the stock of the weapon.

"A lot better," I smiled.

"Okay then. I guess you're right. It's no different from a rifle, but try and shoot it." I readjusted myself so I could line up the weapon with the target better. I steadied my arms and pulled the trigger. I nearly fell back, because there was a big kick to it. Daryl caught me and chuckled at my failure as he pointed out where the arrow went. The arrow was at the corner of the target block.

"Damn it," I blurted out again. Daryl took the crossbow from me again.

"You're lucky that didn't hit the wall," he said. He stood the weapon upright, and he stepped on the handle at the end. He pulled the drawstring back with a grunt, and he loaded another arrow. He handed it back to me, and he held my shoulders so I wouldn't fall back again. I aimed carefully, and I fired. I would have fallen back if Daryl wasn't holding my ground. The arrow was near the center. I took a step forward and looked at Daryl.

"Was that good?" I said as I lowered the crossbow. He nodded.

"Yeah." He smirked. "How good of a shot are you without those on your face?" he said as he pointed at my glasses. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Probably bad," I said. I clasped my glasses with my fingers. "I'm not finding out right now." Daryl chuckled and shook his head.

"Maybe it'll be best to know how to shoot without those. Just in case." I let go.

"Yeah. Maybe." I heard echoing footsteps, and I turned to the entrance to find Carol poking her head in the gym.

"I thought I heard voices in here," she smiled. "Anyway, Rick says it's lights out."

"Thanks, Carol. We'll be up in a bit," Daryl said kindly. She walked towards us. She noticed the new weapon in my hands.

"Are you teaching her to shoot?" Carol asked.

"Yeah. I caught her shooting that compound over there." He pointed to the weapon that was leaning against the wall beside the target block. "She's getting there for a first-timer. I could use a new hunting buddy," he said as he nudged me with his elbow. I sputtered my lip and gave the man his crossbow back. Carol just laughed.

"Alrighty then," she said. "Goodnight you guys." She waved before she left the gym.

"Come on, let's go," Daryl said. He retrieved his arrows, and we both walked out of the gym. The lobby was dark, with the exception of the lamps. Glenn was sitting in the eating area and was cleaning up his assault rifle, and I ran over to him.

"Hey, Becca," Glenn smiled. He finished up and took his rifle as he stood up. "You going to bed?"

"Yeah. Are you?" Glenn shook his head.

"Nope. I'm on watch tonight."

"Aw. Well, goodnight then," I smiled.

"Goodnight, kid," Glenn said and ruffled my hair. I turned to see that Daryl was already going up the stairs. I caught up with him and was walking behind him.

"You didn't wait for me," I said, pretending to sound sad. He glanced at me once we were walking into the second floor hallway.

"Was I supposed to?"

"No, but I don't want to walk to my room alone." We stopped at my door.

"Don't tell me you want to be tucked in too?" he retorted. I opened my door.

"Oh, hell no," I exclaimed.

"Alright then. G'night Becca," Daryl said, tipping his head. I half smiled.

"Goodnight, Daryl." He walked a few doors down into a room and closed the door. It could have been the lighting, but his eyes seemed to return to the way I saw them before. They were blue again, and they were glistening gently.

I entered my dark room and closed the door, making it even darker. I could tell Ella was still sleeping, because I could hear her snoring. And it was loud. "Really, Ella, you're still asleep?" I got nothing in response. I guided myself to my bags and pulled out my matchbox. I pulled out a match and struck it. I lit up some candles, and the room soon smelled like peaches. The candles must have been scented. Ella was in the same spot as I left her. I removed my jacket and tossed it to the side before sitting on the couch. I took out my pocket knife and flipped the blade out. It looked cleaner than the last time I took it out. I glided my finger along the blade carefully. It was definitely sharper. I could tell by the feel of it. I retracted the blade and placed the knife on the table. I took off my glasses and placed them beside the knife. I lied down and closed my eyes.

It's been two hours since lights out. I tried to go to sleep, but I wasn't able to due to the nap I took earlier today. I got up, put on my glasses, and walked out the door into the dark hallway of the building.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	4. Chapter 4: Poolside

**You Keep Me Going**

**Chapter 4: Poolside**

**This is a pretty short chapter, but the next few ones will be loooong. It's just me and Daryl talking and...wait, what did I do?! Read to find out!**

**Kthxbai -zooms far away-**

* * *

The lobby only had one heat lamp lighting it. I looked around to make sure no one was around, especially those who were on watch, because I'm pretty sure a group like this wouldn't have just one person wandering around at night. I made my way to the indoor pool. I opened the door carefully and let it close slowly by itself. I didn't really have a good look at the area before. I think I was running from people when I came in here earlier. I looked over to the door I broke. It was boarded up with wooden planks. I'm glad I didn't attract any more walkers. I'm sure the fence around the outdoor pool wouldn't hold them back. I knew they had the intelligence to climb. I walked to the edge of the pool and placed my hand inside the water, and I slowly moved it back and forth. It felt cool, and the water looked pretty clean. I couldn't remember the last time I bathed in hot water. I prefer cold showers, but hot water is what really cleans you up. I removed my shoes and socks, and I rolled up my pant legs to my knees. I sat on the edge of the pool and dipped my legs into the water. I sat there for a long while. No one came by, and I was alone. I laid back and moved my feet around in the water. I closed my eyes, but I would open them every now and then so I wouldn't fall asleep. I wasn't sure if it was true, but I didn't want to wet myself from having a limb in cold water. Even so, I wasn't tired, but still, I didn't want it to happen.

Another large amount of time passed, and I closed my eyes and took slow breaths. I thought I heard footsteps, but I ignored them. They were probably Glenn's or some other patrolmen. I didn't care if I got caught. I heard voices. Again, I ignored them. It was quiet for a bit. I heard the door open.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I heard a harsh voice. I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at the entrance to find Daryl standing there with his arms crossed, the door slowly closing behind him. He was wearing a sleeveless under shirt. He looked really different without his jacket on. He was pretty skinny. I sighed and looked at the high, arched ceiling.

"I couldn't sleep," I answered quietly. I looked him. "What are you doing here? You gonna scold me?"

"No. I was awake, but something in the back of my head told me you wandered off somewhere." He sat down beside me. "I was right when I checked your room."

"How come you were awake?" Daryl eyed me.

"I just was." I sputtered my lip.

"That's a good explanation," I said sarcastically. "Were you talking to someone just now?"

"Yeah, Glenn. He was asking me what I was doing," Daryl answered. He leaned forward and swished his hand in the water. I sat up and supported myself with my arms behind me.

"Go dip your legs in. It feels great," I suggested. He looked at me, then back at the water.

"I don't think I will." I grunted and shook his shoulder.

"C'mon, take a load off, Daryl. It really does feel nice. It's like being at a spa." I was practically begging him to do it.

"I said no, Rebecca," he said as he splashed some pool water on my face. I spat out some that got in my mouth.

"Please, Daryl?" He looked at me with a stern face. I made a sad, puppy face and whimpered. A very unhappy Daryl shook his head and started removing his foot ware. He was mumbling something under his breath, but I couldn't make out the words. They were probably insults. Daryl rolled up his pant legs and placed his feet in the water on that little stepping edge of the pool that barely had the water covering the top. He looked at me. I was giving him a funny look.

"The hell you lookin' at me like that for?" he asked sternly.

"I said put your legs in, not just your feet," I smirked. I was serious. The waterline was just below my knees. Daryl's dead looking feet was barely in the water. I swished my legs around. "Dunk your whole calf in the water." He groaned and lowered his legs in the pool.

"Not much of a difference," the man said. I shook my head.

"Man, you're such a downer," I said. We were sitting at the edge of the pool for a few minutes in silence. Then, a conversation starter came to mind. "I wonder what being at a spa is like?" Daryl shrugged his shoulders.

"How the hell should I know?" he answered in a harsh tone. I laid back down and stretched my legs.

"God, I'm just throwing out a conversation," I grunted. "But seriously. I'm just wondering. A time where you do nothing and let your troubles melt in treatments." I released my legs and let the water splashed. Daryl laid down and rested his hands on his stomach.

"How can you melt your troubles in a mud bath?" He turned to look at me, expecting an answer. "What's up with that?"

"I don't know. Maybe because it's a natural treatment, people like it. I just heard it reduces the risk of wrinkles or something." I crossed my arms behind my head. "All I know is that I just love mud."

"You're a strange kid," Daryl said. "How come?"

I shrugged. "I always liked to play with it when I was small. I like the feel of it, and I like the squishing sound when you step in it." Daryl just chuckled.

"Next time it rains, remind me to take you to a mud puddle or something."

"I'd like that," I said. Daryl let out a sigh.

"You know what?" he said as he readjusted his back, "this does feel nice." I smiled. I quickly turned my head away, and a loud, squeaky yawn emitted from my mouth. It was silent for a minute until I heard Daryl laugh a bit.

"Was that a yawn or someone stepping on a kitten's tail?" he asked. I bit my lips, and I knew I was blushing a bit.

"I'm just tired now, that's all." Daryl got up and stood over me.

"You should go to bed," he said with concern and helped me up. As soon as I stood up, the Sandman threw a crap load of his sleeping powder into my eye sockets. I almost fell to the side, but Daryl caught me. "Shit, you must be really tired now."

I nodded my head a bit. "Yep…" We shook our legs as dry as they could get, and we started walking back to our rooms. Both of us decided to just leave our shoes and junk near the pool. I'm sure they wouldn't go anywhere. We both stopped at my door. I could hear Ella snoring.

"G'night, kid," Daryl said.

"Night," I said. Without thinking, I hugged Daryl. He flinched and almost cursed at the sudden action. I didn't even know I was hugging him until a few seconds later. I thought he would push me away, because I knew he wasn't a hugging-type person. But he didn't. He wrapped his bare arms around my shoulders and hugged me back. I just closed my eyes. "Thanks for getting me back there," I said quietly. "I was getting lonely." I was glad that someone came by, especially Daryl. If no one came, I probably would have fell asleep right there at the pool.

"You're welcome." I stood on my toes, because Daryl was about eight freaking inches taller than me, and kissed what I could of his cheek. He brought his head back and looked at me. He smirked and ruffled my hair. "G'night," he said and walked into his room. I walked into mine, closed the door, and just stood there. I was thinking what I just did.

…

"What the fuck did I just do?" I asked myself. Why did I hug him? Why did I give him a kiss on the cheek? I took off my glasses and threw myself on the couch. I kept thinking, trying to find an answer in the tiny rock inside my head I call a brain. When I couldn't, a little smile curled up. I rolled up on my side, and fell asleep in an instant.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	5. Chapter 5: The Run

**You Keep Me Going**

**Chapter 5: The Run**

**Becca's first run with the group. What will happen? **

**Enjoy! Kthxbai -walks away-**

* * *

It was cloudy and cool the next day. A nice breeze was rustling through the trees, and it made my hair dance. The herd of walkers from yesterday dispersed, and we took out the ones who were still there earlier this morning. The group was running low on food and ammo. The kitchen in the community center we stayed at had only so much, Rick told me. It was my first run with the group I was just accepted in, and I wanted to bring back as much as I can. I leaned over to Carl while we were walking to one of the cars the group used.

"Hey, there's a Game Stop right up that road. Want to see what's left in there?" I whispered. Carl chuckled and smiled.

"We can't play anything in there, you know that, right?" I nodded.

"Yes, but there's other cool stuff to check out." Rick, who was behind me, lightly swatted the back of my head.

"We're not doing that, Becca."

"Come on, Rick. Don't be a killjoy," Michonne said. "If we have time, we can break in and be nerds," she said to me.

"Awesome," I said in response. We walked passed Daryl, who was bending over an open hood of a car. I jogged over to his side. "Need any help?" Daryl shook his head.

"No, I'm good," he said through his cigarette, which had a gentle line of smoke coming from the end of it. He tinkered with the engine a bit more. "Actually, go inside and turn this thing on." He pulled out some keys from his pocket and handed them to me. I got in the driver's side and tried to start the car. All we heard was rattling and a wheezing engine. Daryl closed the hood and motioned me to come out. "Fuck it, I'll fix it later." Daryl tossed his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out.

"Are you going far for supplies if you need a car?"

"No. I'm going back to where I found ya, but this car broke down when we got here. There were a bunch of places on the other side of that bridge that might have stuff in them."

"There's a bunch of buildings I haven't even set foot in yet in that area," I said. Daryl pulled out a rag that was hanging out of his pocket and wiped the gunk off his hands and bare arms. If Daryl was going in that area, I could show him the places I've already cleaned out. I'm sure Rick wouldn't mind if I went with Daryl. He already was someone with a sword and a little cowboy at his side. I was so deep in thought, I didn't even hear Daryl calling me.

"Yo, Rebecca," he said in a loud voice. I shrieked and looked at him dumbfounded. "You okay?" I nodded my head.

"Y-Yeah, I was just thinking," I stuttered like a moron. Daryl shoved his rag back in his pocket.

"About what?" I looked into his eyes, and silence and slow motion was upon the world around us once again. He raised an eyebrow as he grew impatient.

"I was...just wondering if I could join you." He gave me the 'why' look. "So I can, um, show you the stores I've already cleared out." He looked away for a bit.

"Well, I prefer to be alone when I'm out on runs like these," he said. I looked down.

"Oh, okay then," I said in a quiet, sad, squeaky voice. Crap, I wasn't playing around when I did the voice. I was actually sad. I felt...rejected. I remembered what Daryl said yesterday, about me being his possible hunting buddy, but he was probably just kidding around.

"Hey," he said and I looked up, "did you want to come with me?" A gave him a sad look.

"Only if it's okay with you..." Daryl sighed and nodded his head reluctantly.

"Yeah." I could feel my face brighten up.

"Really?" I said with a smile.

"Yeah." I tried not to over react. I was really happy, but I held myself back.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, I guess," he said questionably. "We'll leave in a bit. I gotta piss." I adjusted my glasses.

"Thanks for telling me."

"No problem," he said as he walked away. The vest he was wearing had angel wings stitched into the back. It looked old. If anything, Daryl wasn't an angel, so I giggled at the fact that he had wings on his back. Rick walked to me with a clutched fist.

"Are you going with him?" he asked me.

"Yeah. We're going to where he found me, and we're gonna look at the buildings I haven't cleared yet."

"Okay then. Well, I'm giving you these," he said. He held my hands up and dropped some bullets in them from his clutched fist. I counted ten.

"Thank you," I said softly. I sat down and pulled out my gun from the side of my backpack. I decided not to bring my satchel this time. I took the magazine out and loaded all ten bullets.

"You can load up pretty quickly," he complimented, even though I took five minutes to shove the bullets in the clip. _Wait, was Rick just watching me the whole time?_ I shoved the magazine back in and put my gun back in its side pocket, and I stood up.

"Thank you. I prefer getting another magazine so I could do a quick reload, but, y'know, it's hard to find one," I said, shrugging my shoulders. He smiled a bit.

"Yeah. Anyway, Michonne, Carl, and I are going up there," Rick said as he pointed to the highway leading away from the community center.

"That's a good place. The town's mall is up there." Rick squinted his eyes at me.

"How do you know?"

"I have a map," I said. Immediately, something snapped in my brain. "I _have_ a map!" I pulled off my bag and shuffled around in it. I pulled out a folded sheet of large paper that was crammed in one of the inside pockets and handed it to Rick. "I found it in some poor bastard's bag when I ran into this town." I got up and Rick unfolded the map. There were a few markings on the map with routes to stores made by the previous guy. The location that was circled was labeled _Mall_.

"This can really help us," Rick said as he scanned the map. His eyes rested on one specific area. Daryl walked up behind him.

"That was a long piss," I said.

"I had other stuff to do," he replied. Daryl looked over at the map. "Where'd you get that?" Rick folded the map and placed it in his bag.

"From her," he directed his eyes toward me.

"You had that this whole time?" Daryl asked in a harsh tone. He seemed upset.

"Hey, I completely forgot about that shit. It didn't dawn on me until a few minutes ago when I was talking to Rick," I snapped. Rick looked at me when I swore, and I immediately calmed down. I heard a soft thunder, and we all looked to where it came from.

"Hey, dad!" Carl yelled, and we turned to see him. His head was poking out of an open window of the car he and Michonne were in. "We have to go!" Rick nodded.

"Try and get back before the storm gets here," Rick said, and Daryl and I both nodded. Then Rick pointed a finger at my face. "You stay out of trouble," he said and left. I just stood there in silence.

"Well, let's go." I looked off to where the thunder came from. It sounded pretty far, and the sky was still bright, so I knew we had time to walk. We started walking down the same path we took yesterday. There were only a few walkers we had to take down along the way, even though they weren't bothering us much. As soon as we reached the end of the highway, there were stores and abandoned restaurants on both sides of the street. I only raided a few of them. I looked at a small store that looked like it was on fire before, and the décor was shady and black like soot. The large yellow sign on the building read _Cherokee Tobacca and Alcohol._

"Hey, Daryl, if you're ever low on cigarettes, you can go there," I said as I pointed towards the store. Daryl looked at me funny.

"You've been in there?" I lowered my arm.

"Yeah."

"For what?"

"Just to get some alcohol." He raised an eyebrow. "Um, for moltovs…" Daryl shook his head.

"It doesn't really matter anymore. You can drink away for all I care." I wasn't lying entirely. I did go into that store to look for something to drink because I was a curious moron, but for a short time, I did use small bottles of wine I found to make moltovs. I stopped doing that when I realized the fire could not only burn down a building, which I did not do recently, but it could also attract walkers from miles away. I looked ahead.

"Hey, there's a food market up there. There's still some stuff inside if you wanna look. I pretty much cleared out these stores right here." Daryl nodded his head and flung his crossbow behind his back.

"Yeah, let's go down there, and we'll keep going down the road." I nodded and we started to walk. We walked passed a jewelry store to find a small pack of walkers chewing on a fallen survivor. One of them turned and snarled at us as pieces of its food fell out of its mouth. The others noticed, snarled loudly, and got up. Daryl took off his loaded weapon, and shot the closest walker. I took out my pocket knife and walked up to one. I plunged the knife into its eye, and it fell. I took out a few others until there was no more for me to fight. Daryl was pulling out his arrows from heads. I looked at the corpse the walkers were ripping apart. It looked fresh.

"Aw, if we came here earlier, maybe this guy would have lived longer." Daryl walked up beside me.

"Eh, we probably would've killed him ourselves," he said and I laughed. Its fingers started to move, and its eyes opened. They looked like dusty marbles. It reached its mauled arm to Daryl, and he stabbed it in the head with an arrow. I looked to the side and saw a lone bag in the parking lot. I ran to it and looked inside. I pulled out some smashed shotgun shells, a few energy bars, and a photo. It looked like the man that Daryl just stabbed with a little girl in a yellow dress. It was probably his daughter. "What did you find?"

"Just these," I said as I placed the energy bars in my bag. "And this." I handed him the photo. He looked at the dead man.

"Poor bastard," he said. He placed the photo in the man's hands. We stood side by side over the dead man for a short while.

"Do you think that little girl is dead?" I asked solemnly.

"I don't know." Another silence. "Let's keep going." I nodded, and we kept walking. We entered the parking lot of the market, and a few walkers were just scattered about. The sign on the building were just outlined letters of the words _Food Lion_.

"Should we take them out?" Daryl nodded his head.

"Yeah, mind as well. Just stay behind me as I take them out," he said. I looked at him funny.

"What, I can't help?" Daryl gave me a sharp look.

"Just do what I say, okay?" I stiffened and nodded. I followed him around the parking lot as he took out the walkers with his crossbow. It really was a good weapon. The ammo is reusable and it's quiet. He had really good aim, so the arrow went through the eye of every walking corpse he came across. While he was taking them out, I stared at his angel wings. The thought of him being an angel with a halo still wanted to make me giggle, which I restrained from, but they made him unique, not like he wasn't already unique from anyone in the group. I tried to strike a conversation when Daryl stopped to retrieve his arrow and reload his weapon.

"So, um," I said awkwardly, "how long have you had that thing?"

"Long before this shit happen," he said in a cold voice.

"Okay. What did you do before this shit happened?" I asked. He looked at me and his eyes were that dull color again.

"Okay, obviously you are not the person to talk things about," I said, scratching the back of my head.

He sighed. "I just did stuff," he answered. Not a very good answer. I wanted to ask what kind of 'stuff' he did, but something in my gut told me that he would end up getting upset. We approached the last walker. It was a decaying woman that had long, matted hair. Her eyes were so sunken that it looked like she was wearing sunglasses. Actually, that would be pretty cool to see- a walker with sunglasses. It snarled at us with its rotting black teeth, and it started to limp rapidly towards me. I took out my knife and flipped the blade to kill it, but Daryl pushed it down and stomped on its head with his boot. The head exploded after one stomp. The crunch sounded like he just stepped on the world's largest cockroach or a thousand croutons.

"I could have just stabbed it in the head. A bit much don't you think?" I said, playing with the blade of the knife between my fingers. Daryl looked at me with a crossed face.

"The fucker was getting too close, and you weren't doing anything," he said sternly. I jutted my arms upwards.

"She was at least five feet away from me. By that time, I had my knife out, and I could've taken it out myself," I barked. I put my knife away, and I made my way towards the entrance of the market, leaving Daryl alone. I pushed the once automatic sliding doors apart and entered, letting them closed behind me. I started to scan the aisles for food and useful supplies. This place was practically cleaned out of those items. I guess some other people came by and took most of them. I found a few cans of food and stuff we could use for bandages, but other than that, there was nothing. The store still had regular everyday stuff, beside food, and that toy aisle full of bootleg toys and stuff you'd find in a toy section of a pharmacy. There were boxes of puzzles on one of the lower shelves. I picked one up. The cover had a picture of all kinds of colorful and shiny candy. The box itself was small, and it had that over 200+ pieces sign on the corner of it. I shoved it inside my bag and kept browsing. There were those fake Barbie dolls inside boxes. There was a fairy princess, a mermaid, a regular princess, a ballerina, and one that didn't have an occupancy on it, which was weird. There were tiny action figures, magnets, sand castle stuff with sandals in the bucket, and crappy looking squirt guns that only held a teaspoon of water. I started to scan the stuffed animals when something caught my eye. From the back of the shelf I was looking at, I pulled out a My Melody plushy. It was really cute, with her beady eyes, the small smile Hello Kitty lacks most of the time, and her adorable pink bunny hat that I envied as a child. And I still do. What I would give just to wear a hat like hers for a minute. I suddenly frowned and tossed the plushy to the ground. It reminded me too much of Jenny. She had a My Melody toy, but it was a lot bigger, and she always slept with it by her side. I walked away and continued to search.

Daryl must have entered at some point. He was looking at the other half of the store. I walked back to a hallway that led to the bathrooms. I didn't have to go, thank god, but the hallway made a turn to the right. I pulled out my flashlight and followed it to an office. It was probably the manager's. I tried to open the door, but it was locked, of course. I could have walked away and continued to search the store, but curiosity got to me. The door had that small window on it. I broke it with the pipe I still had from yesterday. I stuck my hand through and reached for the doorknob on the other side to unlock it. It clicked, and I opened the door. I shined the flashlight in the small room. Just a regular office. I started to open the drawers on the desk. Nothing so far. I opened the last drawer and found an old first aid kit and a fresh pack of some AA batteries. I opened the kit to find a clean looking gauze and some bandages. I took them and placed them inside my bag, along with the batteries, and walked out the office. I heard a scream.

"Daryl?" Panic covered me, and I picked up the pace. As soon as I made the corner, I bumped into a walker. I screamed, and it fell on me, making me drop my flashlight. I held its arms away from me to avoid being ripped opened. If I let go, it could have a chance to make a meal of me. This walker had the strength of a body builder. I tried to kick it off with my knees but to no avail. I heard yelling and snarling in the distance.

"Get off me!" I yelled. I pulled hard on one of its arms toward me, and a pop was heard from the walker's shoulder. It snarled in what I assumed was pain, and I pushed it against the wall. I quickly took out my pocket knife, but the walker lunged at me, making me drop my knife and having the blade cut my hand. The smell of fresh blood aroused the corpse, and it pinned me on the floor again. I reached my hand to where the knife fell. By vision became blurry through a head rush, and I stabbed the walker in the neck instead of the head. I used the grip of the knife to push it off against the wall again. I pulled the knife out and repeatedly stabbed the body in the head. I stopped and took rapid breaths when the face looked like red mush. I heard another snarl and turned my head. A tall walker with bare teeth in a hoodie was in the entrance of the hallway, and it was coming at me. It fell to the ground when an arrow was shot through its head. I felt the blood pulsing in my ears, and I was breathing rapidly. I couldn't hear anything but my heart beating.

A man appeared to retrieve the arrow from the walker's head. His back was to me. The light made his body a silhouette, but the only thing I saw from him were the wings on his back. He turned to look at me.

"Becca," he said, "Are you okay?" He walked up to me and helped me up. I could barely stand, and the man wrapped his arm around my shoulders to support me. I nodded my head roughly to finally answer his question.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay," I said very quietly, but the man heard me. In the trance I was in, I forgot his name.

"Ya bit?" I shook my head, and he looked down my arm.

"What happened to your hand?!" he said. I flinched at the sudden outburst. I looked down, and there was a large cut on the backside of my right hand. I remembered my knife getting me when I was pushed down. The man sat me down on a counter and inspected my hand.

"I...got cut. From my knife," I said, still in a trance. The man pulled out a rag from his pocket, pressed it against my severely bleeding cut, and had me continue applying pressure as he took off my bag and looked through it.

"You said you always carried sewing supplies with you, right?" I nodded my head, because when I tried to talk, I just stuttered like an idiot on drugs. He pulled out a small box and opened it to find my sewing supplies. "Here it is." He took out some thread and a needle. "I have to close that thing up." My vision became blurry from being tired and blood loss. The blood soaked through the rag and small streams ran down my fingers and wrist. The man prepared the needle and removed the rag. Blood poured from the cut and it trickled onto his hand as he held mine. "This will hurt," the man said with concern. I looked into his eyes.

"Like I haven't experienced this before, Daryl," I said in a cold voice, remembering the man's name. He nodded and pierced the needle through the top of my cut, and I made the most pathetic whimper I've ever made with each stitch. Hey, just because I've sewn up many gashes and cuts on my body, that doesn't mean that I can't feel pain. His work was slow and a bit sloppy, but he was able to close up the cut. He pulled out the gauze I found and wrapped it around my hand and placed all my stuff back. I inspected my hand with heavy eyes. I was still fighting not to pass out.

"Are you okay?" Daryl asked. I looked at him and nodded slightly.

"Are you?" I asked back, and he did the same thing I did.

"Sorry I didn't get to you earlier. These fuckers just filed out of the kitchen behind the deli area." I smiled.

"It's okay," I said quietly. He saw in my tired eyes that it was okay. Really, it was. I don't know if he would've had the same reaction if he was the one in my situation, but someone like him probably wouldn't be in the situation I was in. He was too fast and too strong for just one walker to get him to his ground...right? Daryl helped me down, and I slipped on my bag. I looked at my hand again. It didn't hurt as much as before. It probably lost feeling because of the gallon of blood that left my hand.

"How's your hand?" Daryl asked me, inspecting my hand again to make sure the gauze wasn't too loose.

"Hurts less than it did before," I forced out a smile.

"Good," he smiled slightly as he let go of my hand.

"Thank you," I said, "You did a good job on this."

He scoffed. "Well, some little weirdo kid once told me that it didn't take a surgeon to stitch up a cut." I glanced at the finger that Ella bit him on. It had a new, but dirty, gauze wrapped around it. I looked at him.

"And I'm that little weirdo kid, right?" I said, placing my good hand on my hip. He smirked and ruffled my hair.

"C'mon, I think we found what we could in here. Let's go check a few more places before the rain gets here. I nodded and followed him through the maze of dead bodies he just put down. When we walked out of the store, the sky was dark and grey, and the air was very moist. I could smell the rain coming. Daryl pointed to what seemed to be a restaurant. "Let's check this one here." We walked through the front doors and scanned the room. The place was surprisingly bright, but it was unsurprisingly filthy. A couple of rotting bodies were on the floor, and they stunk up the place. We managed to find the kitchen, but the only thing we found was a half-filled bottle of whiskey, which Daryl downed in one swig. Any food that was left in the storage was beyond rotten. I was checking some shelves, and I grew a bit frustrated that I couldn't find anything useful. I really wanted to bring back stuff to the group, but even the supplies I found at the Food Lion place wasn't enough. Daryl noticed the frustration and gave me a worried look. I nodded that I was okay, which I wasn't at the moment, and he ducked behind a counter to find more things. I tossed an empty can to the side when I broke the silence.

"I can't find anything," I grunted, kicking the can between my feet like a soccer ball. Daryl popped up from behind the counter with a pot hanging from his head like a sideways baseball cap. I laughed a bit.

"Yeah, me neither, but at least you're smiling," he said as he took the pot off. I kicked the can to the other side of the kitchen.

"Why do you care if I smile or not?" I said. Daryl walked over to the can, and he kicked it back to me.

"I just do," he said as I kicked the can to him. He tried to kick it back, but the can spun under a counter. I took a look around the kitchen again.

"Well, there's nothing in here we can use," I stated.

"Let's head to another-" Daryl was cut off when a loud clap of thunder shook the room. I shrieked and tensed up my shoulders as the sound surprised me. "Relax, it's just a little thunder," he said when the noise stopped. I loosened up a bit.

"L-Little thunder?! That was fucking scary, I thought it was an earthquake!" I yelped in fear. I really hate thunder. A little rumble like the one earlier today was nothing, but thunder that sounded like a million giants clapping and stomping their feet to a heavy metal concert always scared me. More mega thunders came as buckets of rain punched the windows of the kitchen and the building, making the place feel like it's shaking. Daryl looked out a window.

"Fuck, there's a shit ton of walkers. The thunder must've drove them out," he said angrily now. I looked out as well, and he was right. There was a bunch of walkers just outside the building and even more along the streets. Where they came from, I don't know, but what I did know was this- We were stuck for a while.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Chapter 6: Thunder, Lightening, & Dreams

**You Keep Me Going**

**Chapter 6: Thunder, Lightening, and Dreams**

**Oh my gosh, Becca is in a building alone with Daryl. What's going to happen?!**

**Enjoy! Reviews would be awesome! Kthxbai~**

* * *

The building Daryl and I were trapped in was dark from no sunlight, and a bunch of walkers were outside, and making a run for it in the hard rain means catching our death.

"I guess we'll be staying here for a while," Daryl said as he sat in a booth of the restaurant away from the windows. We closed the blinds on the windows to reduce the risk of walkers spotting us. An occasional flash of white would shine through the openings of the blinds. I was spinning on a stool at the bar.

"How long do you think the storm will be here?" Daryl shurgged.

"Can't really say. It's pretty windy, so it should pass soon," he answered. Another loud clap of thunder boomed, and I nearly fell off the stool. Daryl chuckled at my misery. "Man, you're a pussy." I huffed and hopped off.

"I'm not a pussy! I just hate thunder like this!" I whispered yelled.

"Whatever you say, Becca." Daryl opened his bag and took out a few cans of food he probably found at the store. He found a lot more than I did. I sat down across from him, and I took out my inventory. I counted four cans of beans, four cans of soup, one can of peaches, and two large cans of some pasta all together.

"Let's hope the others found more than we did," I said quietly.

"Yeah, let's hope so." He slumped into his bench and closed his eyes. "If I fall asleep, wake me up when the storm passes."

"Okay." I took out the small puzzle I found earlier and opened it. The smell of cardboard hit my nose, and I began shuffling through the box for some starter pieces that will fit.

"Where'd you get that?" I heard Daryl say. I fitted a few pieces together. The picture seemed to be part of one of the swirly lollipops on the cover.

"At the store," I answered. Daryl took the lid of the box.

"Shit, with all those colors, it's confusing," he said before tossing the lid back on the table.

"But it's also time consuming." I pushed the other half of the box that was filled with puzzle pieces towards Daryl side of the table. "Wanna help?" It was silent until I saw Daryl's hand take a small handful of puzzle pieces. He picked out the ones that were the same color, and he already made a small picture of a Hershey Kiss. I got most of the end pieces to complete the frame, and the Hershey Kiss Daryl made fitted in the corner of the frame. Lightening flashed the room a bright white, along with thunder, and I flinched. I tried to hold back a shriek, but a squeaky whimper came out.

"Kid, you gotta get over these fears," Daryl said as he shuffled through the puzzle pieces.

"It's not a fear! I just don't like thunder," I said. Another flash of lightning and thunder. "Or lightening..." I placed some more pieces to the swirly lollipop. Damn, I wanted candy at the moment, and doing a puzzle of candy wasn't helping, but doing it with Daryl was sort of fun. About an hour passed, and the rain was still pouring. The wind picked up and it made the windows shake. Daryl put away the cans of food we found in the kitchen so we wouldn't be tempted to eat all of it. The puzzle was halfway done. The picture of sweets was the only bright thing in this hellhole at the moment. Daryl stopped and leaned back, letting his head fall.

"I'm gonna take a nap. This shit is boring," he said as he got up and walked to the darker side of the restaraunt. He laid down on one of those long benches in the waiting area, and he covered his eyes with his forearm to block more light.

"Sweet dreams," I said, and Daryl grunted in response. He must have been really tired due to boredom, because I heard his light snoring a few minutes later. I was almost done with the puzzle, about a quarter left to do. I took a break and walked around the place. I looked out a window through the blinds and watched the rain hit the ground. Walkers were everywhere, and the storm didn't look like it would pass anytime soon, despite the wind. I was staring at the sky when I saw a streak of lightening fly across the dark clouds, followed by thunder. I flinched, but I didn't make a sound this time. I got down from the window, and I sunk to the ground, bringing my knees to my chest.

I didn't like thunderstorms like this for a reason. When I lost Jenny, it was raining like this. Walkers were ripping her open, and soldiers were taking out everyone in the orphanage. I didn't know why at the time, (probably to take out the risk of bringing in infected people) but I remembered how scared I was when I ran outside in the rain, when I was running from the undead and the soldiers. I remembered when I got shot in the leg by one of them. I was only twelve when it all happened. It happened too quickly. I lost everything. I wanted to die long after that day. I wanted to die when I gave up hope after being with the dickheads I called groups. I did make a couple of friends, but they only ended up dead. Sometimes it was my fault. The other times...well, they walked into their own death. In the many months I was alone in that house, the only thing I trusted was Ella. As a cat, she didn't do anything, except bite me, but I always let that slide. Now, I was with people I trusted, and at this very moment, I was with someone I can consider a friend.

But Daryl is also a douchebag at times, so that friend status could change.

I looked at Daryl, who was sleeping on the bench, his forearm still covering his eyes. He looked so peaceful, which was odd, because he has that menacing look on him. I stood up and walked over to the table with the almost finished puzzle on it. I sat down and slowly fitted pieces together. Another large amount of time passed, and I didn't really make much progress on the puzzle. I rested my head on my hand, and I started to drift off to sleep. Daryl was right- this was boring, but I wanted to finish the puzzle. The goal was keeping me awake. Well, that and the thunder and lightening flashes. I used my free hand to finish up the puzzle, and I just stared at the picture when it was done. It didn't look as bright as the cover did. Actually, when I looked at the picture on the box, it didn't look cheery either. It grew dull to fit in with the rest of the ambiance. I took out my notebook and a pencil from my bag and opened the notebook to a blank page. I just drew a few doodles of animals and funny drawings of a cartoon me doing dumb stuff. One of them was a drawing of me with a goofy smile holding an arm that looked rotten. It was captioned "Need a hand?" to a walker with one arm. It was a particular walker I came across. It was a young man with messy black hair, and it had one eye. There was a large decaying bite wound on his right shoulder. When I started drawing it, I made him wear a sweater that said 'Staying Alive', like the song, out of irony. (I also named him Lewis. Don't ask why!)

I grew tired after a while, and I rested my head on the table. My eyelids grew heavy, and I was shutting down (to sleep, not die). I stared at Daryl, whose back was facing me now. The last thing I saw were his wings, and I fell asleep.

_Daryl's P.O.V_

I woke up to the sound of rain and thunder. I sat up and rubbed my neck. I must have been sleeping in an awkward position, because it was hurting like hell. I scanned the restaurant. It was dark, smelly, cold, and quiet, with the exception of the rain and the snarling of the walkers that were outside. I stood up and stretched my shoulders around. I rubbed my eyes, and once my vision cleared up, I saw Rebecca slouching over the table with the finished puzzle and an open notebook, her head tucked in crossed arms. I walked up to her and nudged her.

"Becca?" I called. She shuffled and mumbled something before she turned her head the other way. She was asleep. I looked at the page the notebook was on, and it had little drawings on it. _I didn't know she draws_, I thought. They were pretty good. It looked like that Japanese crap that I would see every now and then before this outbreak started. I recalled Merle bringing in an Asian girl, and she was wearing a shirt of a young girl with the words Sailor Moon on it. The cartoon girl had large sparkling eyes and ridiculously long blonde hair. She was also wearing an insanely short skirt. The Asian girl started talking about the show before Merle discovered she was annoying and tossed her out. I was never really interested in stuff like that. I saw them belonging to little girls, like Rebecca. One drawing, however, caught my eye in an unpleasant way. It looked like a drawing of Rebecca talking to a walker with one arm. It looked mad as Cartoon Rebecca said "Need a hand?" She had a stupid smile on her face as she held an arm. I grunted angrily and closed the notebook as the picture reminded me of Merle. I remembered how angry I was at Rick and T-Dog when they left him handcuffed to a roof of a building and how fucking pissed of I was when we got there only to find him gone and his right hand there instead. I remembered when I saw Merle as a walker. I remembered how I killed him, how I cried. But I should have said that 'need a hand' thing to him when he was still alive. I bet he would beaten the crap out of me. There was a clap of thunder that shook the building, and Rebecca made a quiet whimper. I shook my head.

"Even in your sleep, you're a pussy," I said. I looked outside. There were fewer walkers than before, but running out to go back to the group was still too risky. Rebecca kept readjusting herself. She looked like a kid who was trying to sleep during school at her desk, but she keeps fixing herself, because sleeping at a desk is uncomfortable. Rebecca turned her head again, and she had a look of pain on her face. I sighed to the fact that I'm about to baby her, and I carefully picked her up by sliding her body from the booth. I cradled her in my arms, and she rested her head on my shoulder. Her eyes opened slightly, and she looked at me.

"D-Daryl...?" she said half asleep.

"Go back to sleep, Becca. We'll be here for another while," I said softly. I brought her to the bench I was lying on and laid her down on her side.

"Okay...," she said almost inaudibly, and she closed her eyes. Another boom shook the place, and Rebecca's face tensed up.

"It's okay," I said. I walked to my bag and pulled out my wool poncho. It smelled and it was dirty, but I brought it over to Rebecca and draped it over her torso. Her face loosened up as she pulled herself closer into the poncho. Her lips moved to speak. No sound came out, but I could read her scratched up lips. _Thank _you... She breathed slowly as she finally fell back asleep. I looked at her face for a while. I moved some hair to the side and took off her glasses to get a better look. She still looked so sad. I really did care if she smiled. I answered to her like an asshole when she asked me if I cared, but I really did. I cared if Carl was happy. Especially Lil' Ass Kicker. In my opinion, the only one who seems happy all the time is Michonne. She always does her best to keep people happy with her occasional games and jokes. There's also Beth, but her singing could only do so much to lighten the mood. Ever since her dad died, she's been doing that a lot less, along with Maggie. I'm tired of seeing sad faces. I brought my bag over and shuffled my hand in it. I pulled out some small stuffed animal with a pink bunny hat. The tag on its leg said Hello Kitty, but I was getting knew this character wasn't the cat that little girls loved. I saw Rebecca holding it at the market earlier, but she tossed it to the side. I'd thought she'd wanted it still, so I picked it up for her.

I placed the toy in Rebecca's hands under the poncho. She looked like a little kid who was trying to get rid of a bad dream. She held the toy closer to her, and her eyebrows furrowed. I sat down beside her head and placed my hand on her forehead. It was cold. I rubbed my thumb back and forth, and Rebecca inhaled sharpely and exhaled slowly. I reached into my bag, and I pulled out the doll Rebecca made me. It was patchy and the different colors of dark fabric made it look funny. The button eyes were a bright blue color, but the fact that there wasn't a mouth was a bit unsettling. _"After seeing how you looked, I put this little guy together,"_ I heard Rebecca's voice in my head, the words she said when she gave me the doll. It did look like a piece of crap, but in the good way. The stitches were messy to give it that raggedy look, and some pieces of fluff were sticking out a bit. I wasn't sure if that feature was on purpose or not, but I still liked the way it looked and that she made it for me. I fiddled with one of the eyes as I looked at the doll longer.

Some time passed, and not a lot of things changed. The storm was still roaring and a shit ton of walkers were still outside. It was starting to turn into night, which would make things worse. I would check on Rebecca from time to time. She would mumble something every so often. None of the words made any sense. It sounded like she was drunk. Whenever the stuffed animal would fall, I would just place it back in her hands. At some point, I dismantled the puzzle and started to work on it myself. It was slow work, and it was boring. I leaned my head against the wall.

"I wonder how everyone else is doing?" I asked to the air. I hope Rick and the others made it back before the storm, but if they didn't, I hope they're surviving alright. I moved my eyes a bit to have them stop on Rebecca's notebook. On the cover was the word **SKETCHBOOK **in sharpie. I looked at Rebecca, who was still sleeping, then back at the book. I took it and opened it to the first page. It had rough sketches of different doll designs. Some of them looked familiar. I recalled looking at some of them when I first got into Rebecca's house. They were displayed on the kitchen counter, and the one I was holding before Rebecca knocked me out with a bat had a creepy frown on it. It reminded me of a clown. I turned the page to find more doll sketches and some more drawings. As I turned the pages, I couldn't help but smile a bit. One of the pictures made me laugh (not really laugh). It was a comic with a walker with its stomach sliced open, and guts were pouring out. Beside it was Cartoon Rebecca holding a blood-dripping ax with another stupid smile. It was captioned _"You can't kill me. You don't have the guts." _The panel below it had the walker tearing Cartoon Rebecca apart. It was sad, but it had that comedic irony. The joke was awful, but seeing how the scene was drawn was kind of funny. Even the walker looked unamused.

"Daryl...," I heard a soft voice. I put the notebook down, and I turned to look at Rebecca.

"Yeah?" But she was still asleep. She looked scared. I got up and came over to her. I knelt beside her and placed my hand on her forehead, rubbing my thumb. Her mouth quivered, and she pulled the poncho closer to her face.

_"_No..._,"_ Rebecca rasped.

"Rebecca?" I shook her shoulder a bit. She flinched and looked like she was about to cry. She mumbled more and began to hyperventilate. I got on both knees. "Rebecca?! Rebecca, wake up!" I tapped my hand on her cheek, and she quickly shot up screaming on the bench, breathing sharply and tears now pouring from her eyes. I sat in front of her, cupping her face in my hands to calm her down.

_Becca's P.O.V_

Gunshots. Screaming. Thunder. Yelling. More gunshots. Pleads for help. I woke up on my bunk bed from that noise. I sat up and rubbed my eyes to register more. I put on my glasses and stood up.

"No! Please d-," a woman's voice screamed before she was silenced after multiple sounds of guns going off. I looked out the window, and military trucks were parked outside the orphanage. Some soldiers were killing people. A monster was eating someone before it got shot in the head. I flinched as I saw a flash of lightening and a clap of thunder. I threw on a jacket, slipped on my galoshes, and ran into the hallway. I turned a corner and stopped immediately. A monster turned to me from a mangled body of one of my caretakers and growled. It stood up and ran towards me.

"Stay away from me!" I yelled at the monster. It's eyes were white, and it was all bloody. It lunged at me, but I dodged it, making it fall to the ground. I continued running, but the mangled caretaker grabbed my leg, making me fall. The care taker was snarling as it pulled my leg closer to his mouth by the boot.

"No! Get away!" I screamed, kicking the monster in the mouth. The other one got up and turned to me. I started to back away, but the caretaker's grip was too strong. I looked around until I found a blood stained pocket knife beside the caretaker. I remembered it belonging to him. He failed trying to save himself with it. I grabbed it and jammed it in the man's head. It stopped moving, and I slipped my leg out from his hands. I stood up and continued to run from the other monster. I ran down the stairs into the next floor of bedrooms.

"Somebody help!" I heard an all too familiar voice.

"Jenny!" I opened all of the doors until I found Jenny. She was on the ground pushing away one monster, but the other one was ripping her open.

"Rebecca!" She turned to me, and the walker she was pushing away leaned down and tore a piece of flesh from her shoulder. She screamed as blood pooled on the floor.

"No!" I ran in and pushed the monster that was at her stomach to the side. I stomped in its mouth, and the head imploded. I lunged at the other one and shoved the knife in its eye, and it fell on its back. I dropped the knife and hovered over Jenny's side. The sight of her made me want to throw up. There was a large hole where her abdomen was supposed to be.

"Rebecca, I'm scared," Jenny choked on blood and tears. I was pressing down on her wound on her abdomen.

"You're going to be fine! I'm not letting you go!" I yelled, tears forming in the corner of my eyes. I turned my head towards the door of the room. "Someone help! Please, help me!" Jenny screamed in pain, and she clasped her open stomach with her hand,

"It hurts!" she cried. I yelled more into the hallway, hoping someone would hear. I turned to Jenny.

"I know it does, Jenny. You'll be fine," I cried. "Someone fucking help!" The rain and thunder from outside was scaring me and Jenny more. She reached up and grabbed my shoulder.

"I-I don't want to die, Rebecca!" she sobbed.

"You're not going to die!" Jenny turned her head to cough blood out. I wiped away the rest with my hand."You're not going to die!" I got on my knees, but Jenny grabbed my hand to pull me down.

"Don't go!" she yelled. I wiped my eyes from sweat and tears.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you!" I heard snarling and a monster was coming in from the hallway. I left Jenny's side and grabbed my weapon. I approached the monster and I stabbed it in the heart. It fell back with me falling on top of it. I pulled out the knife from its chest and repeatedly stabbed the chest. "Why aren't you dying?!" I yelled. I blindly stabbed it more until I reached the head, but I kept stabbing it until Jenny called my name.

"Rebecca!" she coughed. I turned and quickly crawled over to her.

"I'm getting you out of here," I said. I put the knife away and tried to pick her up, but she screamed.

"You can't! There are people shooting everyone! Thomas and Ms. Dukley are dead, along with everyone else," she said. "And the monsters will get you!"

"No they won't. They won't get us! I'm getting you out of here!" Jenny cried.

"I said you can't!" Her voice was breaking, and her pupils were so wide you'd think that her eye color was black. "I can't...go," she said quietly. I shook my head in denial.

"We will get out here. We'll leave and find a family, and we can become sisters like you wanted," I said. She flinched as thunder shook the room.

"No...," she mumbled. Her pain-ridden face slowly faded as her head turned to the side. Her eyes closed halfway, and she let out a small wisp of air. It was silent.

"Jenny?" I called out, shaking her a bit. "Jenny? Jenny!" I sobbed. "No! Jenny! **NOOOO**!" I yelled. I continued calling her name. I felled over her and cried. I held her dead body close as I cried harder and harder. She was only six. She was taken into the orphanage as a baby, she told me. She never had a real family. I was all she had. I was supposed to be her sister. She was too young to be suffering like this, and she was too young to die...

"Hey! Who's there?!" a voice hollered out. I sat up to find a soldier approaching me with a pistol pointing at my head. I held Jenny's body closer to my chest.

"No! You can't kill me!" I yelled angrily. "You didn't have to kill any of us! We were clean!" The man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, kid," the man said solemnly. He readied the gun, and he was about to pull the trigger. Think quickly, Rebecca!

"Behind you!" I pointed to the door behind him. He quickly turned, expecting a monster to be there. Instead, there was nothing. I took out my knife, and I jumped onto his back. I hooked my arm around his neck and shoved the blade in his throat. The gun went off as he dropped it, making my ears ring, and we both fell. I got up and grabbed the gun, and I ran into the hallway, leaving the man to bleed to death. I darted my way into the lobby, and out the front door into the storm.

"Hey!" a man yelled. I gasped and ducked behind the bushes that decorated the border of the orphanage. I quickly ran, trying to ignore the scrapping and cutting of the branches. I exited the bushes through the back of the building. There were no soldiers back here. "She went this way!" I ran to the fence and started to climb, but I fell when a bullet when through my thigh. I fell on my back to find a soldier looking at me. He pointed his rifle at my face. I rolled right before he pulled the trigger. My ears felt like mush, but I raised the pistol in my hand and fired. The man fell to the ground with a hole right between his eyes. I stood up, screaming at the pain, and I climbed the fence. I landed on the other side, and I kept on running in the rain. When I knew I was far enough, I fell to the ground and cried...

Something was waking me up from my memory. I was too tired to register what was happening, but I knew I was being picked up. I felt my head rest on someone's shoulder as I was cradled in arms. I opened my eyes slightly, and I saw Daryl.

"D-Daryl...?" I called out.

"Go back to sleep, Becca. We'll be here for another while," Daryl said. He brought me over to where he was sleeping before. He laid me down on the bench. It was warm, but his body was warmer, and being in his arms made me feel safe. I rested my head on the cushion, and my eyes forced themselves to close.

"Okay," I said quietly. Thunder shook the room, and I frowned at the noise. No matter how old I am or how many storms I braved through, I'll never like the noise.

"It's okay," I heard Daryl say, his voice fading out as I was drifting off to sleep. A few seconds later, I felt a blanket being put around me. It must have belonged to Daryl, because it smelled like him. It smelled bad, but I snuggled myself into it, and I loosened up. I moved my lips to say "Thank you," but I didn't hear any noise. Everything became silent as I fell back asleep.

Yelling. I heard yelling. I heard my name.

"Rebecca!"

Who was it?

"Rebecca!" the voice sounded familiar. I opened my eyes slowly and let sound find its way into my head. "Rebecca! Wake the fuck up and run!"

Daryl?!

I shot my eyes wide open and stood up. I was in the restaurant, where Daryl put me. I looked across the room to find Daryl backing away from a herd of walkers that was piling into the room from a door.

"Sons of bitches found the door! We need to run!" Daryl said as he stabbed a close walker with his hunter's knife. He was fighting off a few more when one approached behind him.

"Behind you!" It grabbed his shoulders, and Daryl turned sharply to smack it with his crossbow. I ran to it and took it down with my knife. I took out my pistol from my bag and shot a few walkers. A few tripped over them, stalling the others.

"We need to exit through the kitchen! There's a fire escape there!" I hollered. He nodded and we ran to the kitchen doors, but the herd followed us through. I pushed myself against the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck!" I yelled. I heard Daryl's crossbow go off. "It won't open!" I looked at one of the high windows. I shot the glass, and a new exit was made. "Come on! Through there!" I pointed. We ran to the window, and Daryl boosted me up. I landed on top of a dumpster on the other side. I leaned and reached my hand to him. "Come on!" Daryl fired his last arrow and dropped it when a walker smacked it out of his hands. He grabbed my hand, and I pulled as he used the wall to climb up. He suddenly yelled in pain as he fell back into the kitchen, letting go of my arm. Blood was squirting out of his leg from a bite wound. He punched the closest walker away as he stood up, but they grabbed and tore chunks of flesh from his neck and bare arms. This all happened within seconds.

"RUN! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HERE!" Daryl yelled as he fought of the walkers with his blade. I jumped back into the kitchen with my knife at hand. I was **not **going to leave him there to die like that. I took out walkers as I got beside him. I stabbed and shot until I had no more ammo. More walkers piled in, and they pushed Daryl to the ground. Tears poured from my eyes as I watched him being torn apart and hear him scream.

"NO!" I shouted. Multiple walkers pushed me against the wall, and the one in front of me tore my neck open. I screamed and stabbed and beat the walkers with all I could, but there were too many. I sank to the ground as the walkers tore me apart.

"Rebecca?! Rebecca, wake up!" I heard Daryl's voice again. I quickly sat up, screaming, crying, and gasping for air at the same time. I saw the man's eyes as he held my face in his hands. I tried to frantically look around the area, but Daryl kept me still. My glasses were off, so his face was a slight blur.

"Calm down!" he barked through clenched teeth. I stopped thrashing, and Daryl's face returned to its less menacing state. He wiped my tears away with his thumb.

"Daryl...," I stuttered. "They were taking you, a-and I wasn't doing anything, and I...I- they got me, and," I spoke rapidly until I cried more, and my words sounds like drunken gibberish. Daryl pulled me into a hug and I buried my face in his shoulder. That was the worst dream I've ever had. I did have multiple dreams where I got bit or torn open, but I knew they weren't real, because I didn't feel pain. In this nightmare, however, I felt it. I felt the walker's rotting teeth dig through my flesh and their hands tearing me open. It was horrifying…

"Shh, everything is okay," he said. He leaned over, and I felt his blanket around me. I pulled myself closer to him and let the tears fall as he stroked the back of my head. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to us. Not to you," he said, the last sentence being very faint like I wasn't supossed to hear it. I pulled back and looked at his face. Suddenly, I couldn't hear the storm. I was in his isolation bubble again. Even though I couldn't see well at the moment, his eyes were dull again, but it wasn't the dull I normally saw, when he's angry. He looked sad and worried. I couldn't imagine what my eyes looked like. They felt dry, despite all the crying I've been doing, and itchy. He reached over again, and he slid my glasses on. His face was clearer, and his eyes were definitely dull. He wiped a few more tears from my cheeks, and he gave me a small smile. I tried to force one out, but it deteriorated to a frown every time, and his smile went away. I rubbed my nose and looked to the side. My eyes narrowed as I focused on a My Melody doll that was on the floor. I leaned over and picked it up. I looked at Daryl.

"Why did you get this?" I asked quietly, my voice still sounding like a balloon releasing air in the most pathetic way possible (One. Only one way).

"I thought you wanted it. I saw you holdin' it earlier," he said, sounding unsure. I looked at the doll again, and I rubbed its eyes and tiny smile with my thumbs. I didn't bring it for a reason. It reminded me too much of Jenny. "You looked like a baby, the way you were snuggling with it under the poncho." I looked at Daryl. I couldn't be upset at him for bringing the toy. He didn't know who Jenny was. I looked at the toy again, and I gave out a small smile.

"Thank you." I used my arm to wipe my eyes and nose. I looked at him, still smiling. "I did want it, but I thought it would just be more clutter." Daryl scoffed lightly.

"Then what about the puzzle then?"

"Well, I...," I thought of nothing to counter his counter-question. "Shut up," I said. I rubbed the poncho between my fingers. It was soft and warm. I looked around the room again. It was already night time and the storm was still going on. There was a flash of lightening, and I heard a clap of thunder as the bubble went away, and I flinched. I wasn't expecting that after what just happened. I yelped and tensed my shoulders.

"You really gotta get over this," Daryl said chuckling. I shuffled uncomfortably on the bench so my back was towards the wall.

"I'm trying to," I said, getting out the remaining tears and sniffles. I readjusted the poncho over my shoulders and rested my head on Daryl's shoulder. He moved his arm so he could wrap it around my shoulder, and he rested his head on mine. I curled my legs up on the bench and snuggled further into the poncho. "Do you think this storm will be gone by tomorrow?" I felt Daryl nodding his head.

"It should be clearer _at least_," he said. We listened to the rain hit the building for a while.

"Do you think Rick and the others made it back to the group?" I asked while looking at him a bit.

"I'm sure they did considering that they have a car," Daryl answered. He groaned angrily. "Fuck, I should've fixed up another car." I moved my body a bit.

"I'm actually glad you didn't," I said. Daryl moved his head back so he could look at me with a raised brow.

"Why?" I smiled.

"Because I'm here with you," I answered. He grinned and shook his head, and he looked where he was before. I looked back at the carpeted floor and hugged the doll to my stomach. I closed my eyes and curled up more. I started to fall asleep, but a flash of white and thunder made me open my eyes and gasp_._ Daryl rubbed my shoulder roughly as he groaned. I huffed and wrapped my whole body like a burrito. _Mm, burritos._

"Just don't think about it," Daryl said. I sputtered my lip.

"Dude, I don't think, period, so I should've gotten over this a long time ago."

"Why you scared of thunder? All it is is noise, and lightening is nothing if you don't see it." I rubbed my head against his shoulder a bit.

"I just am. Um...astraphobia, I think that's what you call it? It's a natural thing I guess," I said awkwardly. I don't think I should tell Daryl about Jenny just yet. Now wasn't the time, but he was right about the lightening. It's nothing if you can't see. I closed my eyes and tried to enter Daryl's isolation bubble to cancel out the thunder. I felt the room shake, but I didn't here anything. Sometime passed, and Daryl's head fell limp on mine. I opened my eyes a bit and tilted my head a bit to look at him. He fell asleep and his snores sounded like a soft wind. I smiled and snuggled in more under his arm. I closed my eyes and fell asleep...with my glasses on again, damn it.

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to find Daryl's blurry face. I sat up yawning and rubbing my eyes.

"Morning," he said.

"Good morning," I yawned again. He handed me my glasses, which he must've taken off, and I slid them on, blinking a few times to let my eyes adjust. I looked out a window. The sky was a bright gray and it was drizzling. The storm finally pasted, thank god.

"How'd you sleep?" I looked at Daryl, and he was giving me a cocky smile that's supposed to show that he was making fun of me about something. I raised a brow and narrowed my eyes.

"Like a bunny in a hole," I said with suspicion. "How about you?" Daryl took his poncho off of my shoulders and shoved it in his bag.

"Alright. Same as always," he said, stilling giving that weird smile. I stood up.

"What up with the look?" I asked. I liked the smirk he was giving, but it started to annoy me. He pointed at my head.

"I think you should find a mirror or something." I knew exactly what he was talking about. I could feel my messed up hair on my head. A few strands was covering part of my face.

"Oh, psh, it's just bedhead. I can say the same for you," I sneered. Now that I noticed, Daryl's hair was a bit messy. You can tell that he tried to fix it up, but it was half-assed. Even his little goatee was messy. It looked cute. I took my hair out of its messy ponytail and combed my hair with my fingers before putting it back in the hair band, leaving my bangs hanging over the sides of my face.

"You're hair reminds of me of your cat when it's down," Daryl said. I picked up My Melody and walked to my bag to place her in it.

"Why?" I chuckled.

"It's puffy. Yer ponytail's puffy, like Ella's," he answered. I knew how my hair looked most of the time. Back at my house, I used to spend hours making faces at myself in the mirror. Every time I did, I would see my hair, either looking decent or a thousand crows just flew in it, but I smiled at his compliment and bowed my head.

"Why thank you," I said. I shoved my belongings and my findings of the canned food into my bag and placed it on my back. I looked out the window and there were only a few walkers now. Nothing we couldn't handle. Daryl gathered his stuff, and we walked outside. A walker spotted me and started to limp quickly toward me. I walked over to it, my knife already in my hand. I grabbed it by the hair, pulled it down, and twisted the knife in its eye. Another walker fell when Daryl shot it with his crossbow. The rain fell on my head and cleared up my bedhead. "It's not that bad today," I said while cleaning the blood from my knife, "Should we check more stores?" Daryl looked off towards the clouds. Just over the horizon was another storm heading our way.

"Nah, I think we have enough for our part. I'll probably go huntin' before the storm gets here, see if there's any game," Daryl answered as he retrieved his arrow and reloaded it.

"Oh yeah, Michonne told me you were a hunter. She called you a squirrel man." Daryl turned with a crooked smile.

"She did, did she?" he said chuckling. An image popped into my head that made me giggle a bit. I saw Daryl sitting on a fallen log in the woods wearing a flower crown, and he was talking to woodland creatures, feeding one of them from his hand. I stifled a laugh by covering my mouth with my hand. God, I'm so glad I wasn't imagining him singing to them. Shit, I was now, and I burst out laughing. I looked at Daryl, who was giving me that 'what the fuck' face. "The hell you laughin' at?" I wiped a tear away and controlled myself.

"N-Nothing of your concern. I'll draw it out later," I said, still letting out a chuckle or two. Daryl shook his head.

"You freak me out sometimes, kid," he said. A soft thunder rumbled across the air, and we both looked in the direction it came from.

"We should head back now," I said quickly, my shoulders tensing to the oncoming storm.

"What, you scared of-"

"Yes." He groaned, and we started to walk towards the community center we called home.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	7. Chapter 7: Compound and Crossbow

"What the hell are you doing?" Daryl asked me. I raised my head to look at him.

"You can't tell if someone is trying to catch rain water in their mouth?" I playfully snapped, and I leaned my head back with my tongue hanging out of my open mouth. The rain was pouring a bit harder, so along the way back to the group, I started to catch the rain in my mouth. "You should try it," I smiled to Daryl. He raised his hand and shook his head.

"Nah, I'd rather not," Daryl said. I sighed and straightened myself.

"Killjoy," I sputtered. Daryl shot me a look, and I protruded my lower lip with narrowed eyes. The wind picked up and made my bangs wave like a wild octopus. I tugged them down with my hands like a drawstring hat.

We were walking for a bit longer until we heard thunder that sounded close. "We should hurry. That storm is coming pretty quick," Daryl said. I nodded, and the both of us began to run in the rain. It was fun, the rain rinsing off the layer of dirt off of my face. When we arrived at the plaza, it was raining harder but not as bad as last night. I saw someone in the parking lot of the community center, and they yelled something. It looked like Maggie. Within a few seconds, Rick and Carol ran out of the doors. Daryl and I quickened our pace, and we ran into the building, Maggie, Rick, and Carol following in and locking the doors. Michonne, Carl, Tyresse, Tara, and Glenn were in the eating area. All of them were happy to see us.

"Thank God you two are okay," Carol said with worry as she hugged Daryl, then me. Rick walked up to Daryl and patted his shoulder.

"See? I told you they would be okay," Rick said with a smile.

"You two aren't hurt, are you?" Carol asked the both of us.

"No, not me, but Rebecca hurt her hand pretty bad yesterday," Daryl answered as he looked at me. I cocked my head to the side and looked at my hands. I completely forgot that I cut my hand with my own knife when I was being attacked by a walker. The bandage that was wrapping my hand was soaking wet with water and looked like it was about to fall apart. There was a big spot of blood on it. Carol took my hand and unwrapped it a bit. She immediately pressed the bandage on my cut, making me wince a bit.

"Whoever stitched it, they broke," Carol said. "How did this happen?" She looked into my eyes.

"I was attacked by a walker. It made me drop my knife, and the blade cut my hand. Daryl stitched it up, but I guess they snapped at some point." Carol placed a hand on my shoulder, and she walked me away from Daryl and the others.

"I'll fix that up for you," she said. She sat me down in one of the chairs in the eating area, and Carl approached us with a clean rag and handed it to me. I took it and pressed it against my wound. "I'll be right back. There's a first aid kit in the kitchen." I nodded before Carol walked to the kitchen's double doors. Carl leaned against the railing beside me.

"You okay?" he asked me. I looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah, it's just a cut. I really big, deep, and severely bleeding cut," I said, "but I've experienced much worse than this." Carl patted his stomach.

"I've been shot before, but who hasn't these days," the boy said. He was right. Before the end of world happened, if a kid said that they got shot, everyone will be asking questions like that person is a soldier or a god. Nowadays, it's no big deal.

"Same here, a couple of times. Through my thigh and my shoulder. I've been grazed a few times as well," I said. Carol walked out of the kitchen holding a small kit.

"Whoa, what situation were you in to get all that damage?" Carl asked as Carol sat down beside me and placed a first aid kit on the table in front of us.

"Y'know, running from people I pissed off and not dying," I chuckled, and Carl nodded in agreement.

"Give me your hand, sweetie," Carol said, and I did so. She lifted the rag and carefully pulled out my old stitches. It was still bleeding, but not enough to have blood flowing all over the place.

"Wow, I honestly thought Daryl would've done a better job than this," Carol said under her breath so Daryl, who was still talking to Rick near the entrance, couldn't hear her.

"What makes you say that? I mean, yeah, he did suck, but still," I frowned a bit. I know she didn't mean it in a bad way, but I was curious to why she said it so quietly. Carol looked at me with sad eyes, as did Carl. I looked at both of them confusingly. "Am...Am I missing something?" I asked quietly. I knew a conversation like this would be something that Daryl shouldn't listen to. Carol cleaned up my cut with some peroxide, and she began sewing my cut properly (which was a hell of a lot better than my work).

"Should we tell her?" I heard Carl, addressing Carol. She nodded, keeping her focus on my hand.

"Tell me what?" I whispered. I looked at Daryl, who was still at the entrance. His back was toward us now. "Is there something I have to know?"

"Sort of, but just to keep you up to date," Carol said. She finished up the stitching, and she wrapped a fresh gauze around my hand and wiped the place clean of my blood.

"Is it about Daryl?" I asked. They both nodded. Carol got up.

"Let me just say this: Daryl had to stitch himself up every now and then when he was a kid because of his dad." Her eyes and expression said it all. I frowned, and I nodded. I looked at Daryl. I couldn't believe anyone would do something so cruel to their own child. I got up, holding my arm. Carol placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay now," she said so sweetly that I felt better. She looked at the man. "He's strong." I smiled.

"I know he is." I wanted to change the subject. I took off my bag. "Daryl and I found some food. Not a lot, but some." I said the sentence aloud, and Daryl turned to look at me. We all waved a bit. He and Rick started walking to us, Daryl arriving first.

"Yeah, we found quite a bit of food," he said. "I'm gonna go hunting in a bit to find some more meat."

"You sure you're going to find game in the woods with this storm coming, Daryl?" Rick asked.

"Eh, I got time. I'll at least bring back some squirrels," he said while he removed his bag and slammed it on the table.

"Want me to come with? You can teach me to hunt with that compound I found the other day," I said. I know he preferred to be alone, but I wanted to be with him when the storm arrives.

"I don't know, kid. I'm afraid the thunder will make you run away," Daryl scoffed with a smirk. I pushed him a bit.

"I won't," I laughed. Rick, Carol, and Carl exchanged confused glances.

"What?" Rick asked. Daryl crossed his arms.

"Lil' Bec is scared of thunder. She was all jumpy last night," he said, still giving that weird smile. I huffed and stomped my foot.

"I wasn't that jumpy," I groaned.

"Yeah, you were." Carol was holding back a laugh.

"Well," I did a heroic pose, with my hands bent to my hips and chest out like Superman, "I won't this time." Daryl shook his head.

"I find that hard to believe," he said, and I slouched. "Grab your bow. We're leaving soon." Wait, did he just say yes? This guy just said I could go with him. I must be dreaming.

"You two bring your findings into the kitchen. I'll fix you something to eat before you leave again," Carol said. Daryl and I nodded and we brought the food in the kitchen. Carol was heating up some beans on the gas stove when Daryl left. I walked up beside the woman.

"Need any help?" I asked kindly. She smiled.

"No, not at the moment. You can serve when it's ready," she said.

"Okay," I said and leaned against the counter.

"I'm glad you and Daryl are getting along," Carol said as she stood beside me. "He's normally not so open towards newcomers."

"But he brought me here. Sure I broke in, but still." Carol shrugged.

"He told us he only brought you here to redeem yourself about your hatred towards groups." I shot her a look.

"I never told him I hated groups!" Carol flinched at my sudden outburst, and I retracted. "I just had very bad experiences with them..."

"Well, I want to let you know that we won't do anything to hurt you," Carol said. I smiled.

"And I won't do anything to you any of you guys either." The two of us were silent for a bit as the kitchen smelled of beans. It smelled good. I didn't realize how hungry I was. I skipped breakfast yesterday like a moron, so I didn't eat anything the whole day.

"What about you guys?" I asked. Carol looked up from the pot she was stirring.

"What do you mean?"

"How was Daryl when you met him?"

"Well, in the beginning, he was kind of a dick." I chuckled. "But after a certain point, he opened up to us." I hopped up on the counter and supported my weight on my arms behind me.

"How long was he with y'all?" Carol sighed.

"So long. We were in a camp outside of Atlanta a few years back so we could warn people not to go in, since the quarantine zone there got overrun with walkers. One day, Daryl and his brother showed up, and they joined us. They hunted and gave us food." Carol shook the pot again. "He's one of the reasons we survived for so long." I looked at my feet, which were rocking back and forth.

"He has a brother?" I asked. I don't recall seeing anyone with any similar features to Daryl or anybody addressing themselves as Daryl's brother, but Carol looked at me with those sad eyes again.

"His name was Merle...," she said. I could tell what she was going to say next. I lifted my hand.

"I...I get it...," I said. I assumed he was dead.

"But, to make you feel any better, he sees Rick as his brother. He has a family, so he has a whole bunch of kin now." I smiled, and I did feel better. Carol got out two small bowls and placed a decent amount of beans in each. I jumped from the counter, and I carefully took the bowls. The heat was already conducting through the bowls, but it felt nice against my cold hands.

"Thank you," I said. She smiled, and I left.

"Oh wait," I heard Carol say. I stopped and turned to see her holding up two spoons. I cleared my throat and lifted my chin.

"I knew they were missing," I said with a failed straight face. Carol laughed and placed the spoons in the bowls. I said my thanks again, and walked into the eating area. Daryl wasn't back yet from whatever he was doing. I sat down at a table and started to eat my food. The beans were really good. Each one is like a little piece of meat, and I could feel their warmth running down my throat and landing in my stomach.

"Hey, Becca," I heard a voice. I looked up to find Glenn standing beside the table.

"Hey there," I said. "How's it goin'?"

"Alright. How's your hand?" he asked. I raised my hand and wiggled my fingers.

"All fixed, thanks to Carol." I swallowed another spoon of beans. "She's really nice." Glenn nodded.

"She is. She really cares for us. Carol's one of the reasons we survived this long." He pulled up a chair and sat beside me. "So, you scared of thunder?" He asked with a dumb smile on his face. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. It's more like a PTSD thing," I admitted.

"I'm sorry about that. Hey," he nudged my knee with his, "I'm not a big fan of thunder either. It's like someone constantly sneaking up behind you, and you know they're there, but you don't when they will scare you." I sputtered my lip.

"Tell me about. If thunder was a human, I would hit him, but I think his screams will be a clap of thunder, and I'll just end up running away into a corner." Glenn and I laughed at our (mostly mine) fear. It was nice to be with someone who had the same dislike as I do, so both of us could make fun of it. I saw Daryl walking from the exercising area. He saw me, and I waved. He approached and nodded towards Glenn.

"What were y'all laughin' about?" he asked as he took his bowl and leaned against the railing.

"Just laughing about thunder," I answered. Daryl gave me a nod.

"Laughin' your fear in the face. That's how you get rid of them," he said, pointing his spoon at me. I narrowed my eyes. The way he said those words sounded unsettling. I didn't know what Daryl's fears could have been, but I felt uncomfortable about how he got rid of them, if he had any left.

"Yeah, well, I think for someone like me, it will take a lot more laughing at thunder metaphors to get rid of my problem." Daryl finished his beans quickly. He set the empty bowl on the table.

"Whatever. You can deal with them however you want." I stood up and took our dishes.

"I'll put these away, and we can go," I said. Daryl nodded and made his way towards the entrance. Glenn stood up and took the dishes.

"I'll take these back. You go ahead," Glenn said with a grin.

"Thanks, dude," I said before he walked off. I ran to the gym to find Beth trying out the compound bow. I must have caught her by surprise, because she flinched and shot the arrow, making it miss the target completely. "Shit, I'm sorry," I said, almost thinking she would've shot me instead. She lowered the weapon and let out a sigh of relief.

"It's okay." I walked beside her and looked at the arrows already in the target. They looked like shots I could have made.

"Did you do those?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah. My daddy used to have one of these, and I would shoot it every now and then." She laid the weapon on the floor and moved her hands in little circles, each full rotation making a small quiet pop. "Have you used this?"

"Yeah. Actually, I'm here to get it."

"What for?" Beth asked in her soft southern accent. I picked up the weapon.

"I'm going with Daryl. He's gonna teach me how to hunt," I smiled. She jutted her chin upwards and followed me to retrieve the arrows.

"I've hunted with him a couple of times. It was mostly on how to track," she said.

"I'm not a tracker. I just let my gut tell me where to go," I stated. The compound bow didn't have any holder for the arrows.

"There's a quiver in the closet over there. I'll get it," Beth said. She disappeared into the supply closet I got the weapon from, and I heard stuff being moved around. I walked to the doorway.

"How long have you known him?" I asked while shuffling my weight on my feet. Beth came out with a cheap looking quiver, and she handed it to me.

"Daryl? Um, a couple of years." She answered. I placed the arrows in the quiver and placed the strap over my shoulder. "He's really complicated sometimes." I scoffed.

"I agree with you completely." Beth and I headed out of the gym into the lobby.

"Where were you and Daryl last night? I was really worried." I readjusted the strap.

"We were held up in a restaurant. A bunch of walkers came out of nowhere, so we couldn't leave until this morning."

"Was he a pain?" I raised my hand to my chin.

"Um...actually, no...," I said. "He wasn't."

"Really?" Beth said with surprise in her soft voice. "When I was alone with Daryl for the first time, he was nothing but a quiet ass." I laughed in my thoughts as I recalled myself mentally calling him that when I first met Daryl.

"What did you guys do? Being stuck a place with him had to make you beg for something fun to do."

"We did a puzzle together for a while," I answered.

"You guys had a puzzle?"

"Mhmm. I picked up one on the run. I still have it. It's in my bag. Being the killjoy he is, he left it alone 'cause it was boring."

"I like puzzles. What was the picture?"

"Candy."

"Oh, cool. What else did you snag?" We arrived at the lobby. Daryl must have been outside waiting for me.

"Well, Daryl got a My Melody doll for me," I said quietly. Beth stifled a laugh.

"Aw, that's mighty sweet of him," Beth said with a smile. "Well, I need to check on Judith. You have fun with the hunt."

"I will," I said, and she headed toward the stairs as I made my way to the entrance. I'm glad she didn't ask if anything happened. Even if she did, I wasn't going to tell about my nightmares and how Daryl calmed me down. I walked outside into the light rain to find Daryl leaning against the car he was working on yesterday, smoking a cigarette. He saw me and rubbed the cigarette out on the pavement. He grabbed his crossbow and a coil of rope of the top of a car and walked to me.

"You ready?" I smiled and nodded. He grunted, and we started to walk to the woods that was beside the community center. We walked a good distance, and we stopped in a random spot. I heard a rustle and nearly snapped my neck when I looked up one of the trees. Right there, nibbling on a green pine cone like a corn on the cob, was a squirrel. It was young and had large eyes. Daryl lifted his crossbow up and shot the squirrel down in a flash. Daryl walked over to it and picked it up. Blood was running down the arrow and stained the dead leaves on the ground. They little guy had a lot of blood to lose. Daryl wrapped a portion of the rope around the squirrel's neck. He pulled the arrow from it's head, and he handed me the carcass.

"Got one down," I said. Daryl looked at the tree the squirrel was previously in.

"There'll be a bunch," Daryl said as he reloaded his weapon. I saw something moving in the distance. I looked over Daryl's side and saw a couple of bunnies hopping away. Daryl looked in that direction. "How stealthy are you?"

"Well, I snuck into your base, so pretty damn stealthy." Daryl made his casual groan and took the squirrel from me.

"Let's see if you can catch those," Daryl said pointing in the direction of the bunnies. I've never hunted before, let alone following some bunnies for food. I used to chase them when I was little, and they would spot me a mile away and run out of my sight. I loaded an arrow in my weapon.

"You gonna watch me?" I asked, looking at Daryl.

"Why? You embarrassed or something?" he asked in a mocking tone. I blushed and looked away.

"N-No...," I said. I actually was. We started hunting less than two minutes ago, and already he wanted to see me kill something, or at least track something down. I took a breath and started walking where the bunnies ran off to. The rain picked up a bit, and the rolling thunder made a few squirrels run back to there trees. I kept my eyes out for walkers and unfamiliar people. I would look back for half a second to find Daryl following me a few feet behind. I actually forgot he was following me. I'm glad he was, because I didn't want to be alone out here.

"You know where you're goin'?" the man asked. I nodded.

"Yeah..." I sounded unsure.

"How can you tell where they've been?" I stopped.

"There's...," I looked at the forest floor, "scuffs in the dirt," I answered. The leaves all looked the same, but there were messy footprints in the mud the rain made, like someone rain their fingers in it. I looked at Daryl. "That's how you find them, right?" Daryl nodded once. I let out a little smile of relief, and I continued to follow the trail. I was trying to be as quiet as I could get. Daryl was probably a master at this, so he had hunter's feet. You could probably hear my stomping in another country. When it comes to sneaking in and out of buildings, I'm pretty quiet, but in the woods, where there are twigs and leaves and walkers to spot me and no places to hide, I'm pretty easy to spot. I stopped when I saw a bunny in a clearing. It was too busy digging holes to see me. It would look up every now and then as I got closer to eat whatever it found, but it paid no attention to me. I would stay still until it got back to digging. I was behind a tree a few feet away: probably less than double my height. I pulled back on the drawstring and lined up my sightings on the bunny's stomach. I silenced everything around me, and everything was a blur, except my target. I held my breath to steady my arms, and I released the arrow. It tore through one of the bunny's ears and pierced the ground behind it. The little critter ran, leaving some blood where it was before.

"Fuck!" I shouted. "I was so close." I walked to the arrow and pulled it from the muddy earth. I looked where the animal hopped to. There were tiny spots of dark blood here and there. I loaded my bow and quickly followed the trail, with Daryl behind me.

_I am NOT going to be stood up by a bunny_, I thought to myself. I already had its blood. I wanted the meat too. I didn't have to track to so far. The bunny was sitting beside a tree, quivering. It looked like it was in a lot of pain, but at the moment, I didn't care. Its ear was stained a brownish-red, and the hole looked like it stopped bleeding. Who knew that bunny ears would bleed so much. It left quite a trail for me to follow. I pulled back again and aimed at my target. _Come on, I cannot miss this kill._ My arms started to shake. I inhaled sharply and let go. The arrow didn't hit the stomach like I wanted it to, but it nailed the bunny on the ground by the leg. It made a cloud of dirt and splattered mud as it tried to escape.

"Nice shot," Daryl said as he got beside me. He held up his crossbow and shot the bunny in the head, ending its misery.

"I could've killed it myself y'know," I said, giving Daryl a look.

"It doesn't matter who kills the food," Daryl said. He got his arrow and loaded it. I walked up to the bunny, pulled my arrow from its foot, and picked it up. Being all stretched out, it looked about fourteen inches, from the top of the head to its toes. "It's who tracks it down." He took the bunny and wrapped the rope around its neck to add to the necklace of dead animals. I followed Daryl around as he took out squirrels. I attempted to shoot a few. I only killed four, but after missing more squirrels, Daryl said I did enough. The rain started to pour hard through the canopy of the trees, and it scared the animals back to their homes, so Daryl and I decided to head back to the group.

"Did I do well?" I asked. Daryl turned to me.

"For what?" I pointed at the bunny.

"For tracking that fuzzball down." Daryl scratched under his nose.

"Well, is this your first time hunting animals?" I nodded. "Well, for a first timer, I guess you did pretty well- for tracking the Easter Bunny." I chuckled and looked down.

"Wish I could've caught more," I said.

"Hey, you did alright. You got a bunny and a few squirrels," Daryl said. I looked at his eyes. They showed approval. "Maybe you'll do better next time." I widened my eyes.

"I'm gonna hunt with you again?"

"I said I needed a new hunting buddy," Daryl smirked. I smiled.

"I can't wait then," I said, huffing out a raspy cough at the end. Daryl placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" I cleared my throat of whatever was in it. It felt itchy.

"Yeah. I think I swallowed some saliva," I said. I turned my head into my arm and coughed.

"You sure-" I stepped away.

"Yeah. It'll pass," I said more clearly. The hunter looked at me with dull eyes. I literally saw them change from their normal bright blue to a depressing shade.

"Okay then..." We were at the edge of the woods when Daryl said something. "There's a nice blotch of mud for you to play in," Daryl said, pointing to a clear spot of wet dirt. I looked at the spot confused until I remembered the conversation Daryl and I had the other night. I shook my head.

"Nah, maybe some other time," I said, clearing my throat again. Daryl walked over to the mud puddle, and I had no choice but to follow him. He flung his crossbow onto his back and crouched to placed his hand in the mud.

"I used to play in the mud a lot when I was a kid. I got the name Pig Boy because of it." I snickered, and Daryl looked at me with a smirk.

"That's cute."

"Says the girl who don't like pet names." I sighed and rolled my eyes. I knelt down and fiddled with the mud between my fingers. It was warm because of the rain, and it felt like I was playing with poop. Ew...

"No one called you Mud Slug?" There was a short silence.

"No. I don't think so."

"Good, because I'm gonna start calling you that."

"Girl, you better not," Daryl scowled. He grabbed some mud and smeared it across the side of my face. I gasped and let my mouth hang open. I splashed some pooled up water, and mud, onto Daryl's face. He stood up and tugged at my ponytail to make me stand up. "Alright, let's head in before one of us starts killin' each other." I nodded with a smile and we headed towards the building. We entered the building at the peak of the storm. The raindrops were hard and the wind was fierce. Both of us were dripping wet.

"Oh my god, you guys are soaked," Maggie said, half chuckling, as she approached Daryl and I. I saw Beth from the balcony of the second floor, and she ran down the hallway after seeing how we looked. We put our weapons on a nearby table.

"We got a little wet. No biggy," Daryl said. He slammed the garment of carcasses on the table. "Becca and I found some food." I looked at what we caught. I counted a dozen squirrels and my prize bunny. Beth came running down the stairs with two towels, and she handed them to me and Daryl.

"How did it go?" Beth asked me. I wiped my glasses dry and shook my wet head in the towel.

"Pretty good," I said. I started to tap my arms with the towel. "I got a bunny and some squirrels." I looked to the pile of animals on the table.

"Nice job," she smiled, "That's a big one." Carol and Rick came to greet us. Carol nearly fell over laughing when she saw the state of us.

"You guys looked like you had fun," Rick said. I took my hair band out and threw it away in a nearby trashcan.

"Yeah. Killing food, getting caught in the rain, and playin' in the mud was grand," I chuckled. A burning feeling moved up my throat, and I turned away from my friends and coughed harshly. A hand grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. It was Daryl, and he pushed my wet bangs back to feel my forehead. He switched to the back of his hand.

"I think you caught something, kid," he said as he pulled away.

"For being in the rain for ten minutes?" I said. My voice was raspy, I could hear it, but I didn't feel sick.

"More like an hour," Carol said as she felt my forehead. "You do feel a bit warm." I shook my head in denial and moved her hand.

"But I'm fine! I don't-"

"Rebecca," Rick said. He walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We can't have anyone sick right now. I'm not sayin' you are sick, but if any one else gets sick, it'll be hell for all of us. We are extremely low on medicine, and it's getting harder to find more these days." I looked at everyone else, all of them with serious looks. I stopped at Daryl, who frowned the most. "You just gotta take it easy," Rick finished before letting his hand fall. I sighed.

"Okay. If you guys say I'm 'warm', then I am." I backed away and coughed again.

"The hot water should be back by now," Carol said. She looked at Daryl and I. "You two take a shower before you really catch a cold." Hot water. Oh my god. Maybe I am sick, and I'm starting to hear things. It's been a while since I've been cleaned and even longer for being in contact with hot water from a shower. Maggie pointed in the direction of the hallway toward the gym.

"The woman's locker room is just over there. There should be some soap and shampoo somewhere in there." I looked passed her. I nodded.

"Thanks," I said with a weak smile. Fuck, I really was coming down with something. _Or maybe they're just telling me nonsense, and it's getting into my head._ I noticed my bag was still in the eating area, so I grabbed it and made my way to my room. I pulled out a loose black t-shirt, some pale blue jeans, and, of course, underwear from my bag. I quickly ran downstairs into the woman's locker room. The lights were already on, but only a few fixtures, and no one was in there. There were rows of beige-colored lockers and benches between the rows. There were bathroom stalls and sinks with mirrors on the walls across the way. I walked to one of the benches and picked up a bottle of green apple shampoo and a bar of soap. I walked further and turned a corner to find shower stalls with vinyl curtains. _Oh thank goodness, they're individual stalls. _I placed my clean clothes on a hook, along with my mostly dry towel. I stepped in the cleanest stall closest to the hook, placed the cleaning stuff on the floor, and I closed the curtains. I took of my clothes and tossed them onto the floor outside the stall (I left my glasses on, because that's how I do). I turned the knob for the shower to a warm setting, but I nearly fell when ice cold water smacked my chest. I pressed my back against the wall to further my distance between the icy water of death. I soon felt the water turn warm, and I relaxed myself. I stepped under the shower and let the water cover me. I wanted to turn up the temperature a bit more, but I didn't want to use up all the water or take too long. I quickly cleaned my hair and skin. It felt so good to rinse of all of this gunk. I turned the water up and let the steam fog up my glasses. It felt sooooo good. I took a breath of the hot air, and my throat felt like it was reborn. I turned off the water, and I poked my head from the curtain. No one was around. I scampered to my towel and wrapped it around me. I dried off what I can, and I slid on my underwear and bra before letting the towel drop. I quickly put on my shirt and pants and started to dry my hair. I draped the towel over my shoulders, and I grabbed my dirty/wet clothes. I made my way out of the locker room and followed the hallway into the lobby when I bumped into Maggie.

"Oh, hey. You feelin' better?" she asked sweetly with a smile. I smiled back and nodded. "That's good. I was gonna check on ya and take your clothes." She took my pile from my arms.

"Thank you guys so much for the hot water and everything," I said happily. Maggie just chuckled.

"You're welcome," she said. "You weren't in there for long. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "I just didn't want to used up the stuff. I really didn't need much time."

"Well, thank you for your consideration, Becca."

"You're welcome," I said. We parted separate ways and I entered the lobby. I didn't see anyone, which was strange, and also very unsettling. I looked out the upper windows, and the sky was dark, and it was raining hard. I walked slowly to the stairs. The only noise I heard was the slapping my bare feet made on the ground and the rain. I was heading up when I heard a door creaking open. I peeked over the railing to see where it came from, and I saw Daryl walking out of a hallway. He was wearing torn up pants and a sleeveless undershirt. He was rubbing the towel on his head, so he didn't see me. The last time I saw him dressed like this was at the pool. He uncovered his face, and he gave me a stern look.

"The hell you starin' at, girl?" Daryl barked. I flinched.

"N-Nothing," I said awkwardly. I started to walk up the stairs, but Daryl stopped me.

"How you feelin'?" he said as he walked up beside me.

"My throat doesn't feel itchy anymore," I said rubbing my neck.

"That's good. I don't want anyone getting sick on me." He started walking up and I followed behind. A loud clap of thunder shook the windows and I yelped. I clutched onto the railing and I looked at the windows. I was expecting a comment from Daryl about my reaction, but I heard nothing. I turned and he was gone. He must have gotten sick of me being a baby and left. I walked to my room and rummaged around in my bag to pull out another hairband. My hair was still a bit damp, so I wore it like a bracelet. I laid my towel on one of the chairs in my room, and I sat on the couch. I rummaged through my bag, wondering if I brought the item I was looking for.

"C'mon, where the hell are you?" I moved some more junk to the side, and I sighed with relief as I pulled out my Gameboy Color. It was purple, and you could see the inside of it, so you could see all of the gadgets within. Someone from one of my previous groups gave it to me as a birthday present. He was one of the nice people I met. He never told me his real name, but people called him Cannon. I've only found a few games for it, but I treasured it. Right now, Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite was in the slot. I turned on the Gameboy, and I smiled when I heard that little jingle when it turned on. The screen changed to the Nintendo copyright thing, and then it changed to the sound of Hamtaro's theme song. I turned the volume up, and I started to mumble some lyrics. I loved the show when I was little. The last time I watched it was on a tape about a year after I fled the orphanage. I came across a house that still had electricity in it. There was a VCR in the living room, and it still worked. I found a Hamtaro tape, and I watched it. I haven't watched any form of TV since. I selected "Continue" on the screen, and I was playing as Hamtaro in the Sky Gardens. I forgot who I was suppose to look for. It's been a while since I last played it. I know I didn't find Sandy or Stan yet, the twin hamsters. I went to the clubhouse to see the chart that told me who was there. The only Ham-hams who weren't there were Jingle, Stan, and Sandy. I remembered how to get Jingle, because I've beaten the game before. That was a long time ago though. I was always stuck on getting Stan and Sandy back. To me, they're the boss battle of this game. I went back to the school to bargain for the bottle in the shop for tea. The music was bright and cheery, and it made me mostly forget about the storm. The thunder still made my spine shiver, but the music calmed me down.

I heard footsteps, and I looked at my open doorway. I saw Daryl walk by, but then he returned to poke his head. He looked at the Gameboy in my hands and squinted his eyes.

"Okay, so that creepy music is coming from that," he sighed as he walked in. "Thought I was going crazy." I turned down the volume a bit. "The hell are you playin'?" he asked as he leaned to see the screen.

"Hamtaro," I said happily.

"That weird Japanese rat?" he said. I looked at him with a stern face, and I scrunched my lips. He knew damn well he was a hamster. He only said that Hamtaro was a rat just to annoy me.

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, and I went back to my game. I just got the bottle back from Panda. Daryl sat down beside me. _Is he actually watching me play? Kinda strange... _He smelled like Irish Spring. It made my nose feel funny.

"What's the point of this game?" he asked. I gave the bottle of tea to the Ham-ham that was blocking my way to Jingle.

"I'm supposed to bring all of the Ham-hams back to the clubhouse so Boss could show them the thing he was working on," I said.

"Ham-hams?" Daryl sounded like he was going to throw up after saying that. I nodded.

"Yeah. That's what Hamtaro and the others call other hamsters." I finished persuading Jingle to come with me. We entered his room in the clubhouse and started playing his song he's supposedly writing. I handed the console to Daryl. "You wanna play? It's really cute," I said. He shook his head.

"No thank you," Daryl said as he pushed the Gameboy back to me. "I would be caught dead playin' that shit." I put the console on the table, the music still playing like a music box, and I looked through my bag. I found my Pokemon Red game, and I showed it to Daryl.

"How about this?" His eyes widened a bit, and he took the game from my fingers. He looked at the picture of Charzard that was on the card.

"Man, I have not seen something like this for a long time," Daryl chuckled as he placed the game next to the Gameboy. "But, no, I don't wanna play." He leaned back on the couch and let out a breath of air. I picked up the Gameboy and continued playing.

"So, you just gonna crash here?" I heard him scoff.

"Not with that creepy ass music playing." I sputtered my lip and turned up the volume more. Daryl scoffed, and he leaned forward and continued watching me play.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	8. Chapter 8: Conversations

**You Keep Me Going**

**Chapter 8: Conversations**

**Sorry for the sort of long wait. I wasn't really sure what to write for this chapter. I think it's a bit poorly written. Well, here it is. **

**Enjoy. Reviews would be super ^ w ^. Kthxbai -rolls to corner-**

* * *

Night fell, and I helped make dinner. Daryl showed me how to skin the bunny I caught. It was fun. I remembered watching TV, and every now and then, I would watch a show that had kids dissecting frogs for science. Skinning a bunny seemed a lot better than cutting a frog open, even though I did a terrible job at it. I gagged a couple of times, but it was mostly because of the smell that came from the bunny, not because I couldn't stand the sight of what I was doing. I'm pretty sure everyone in the world by now should be used to this. I was helping serving dinner with Carol when I struck a conversation with Rick.

"Was it hard being a cop?" I asked while I got my portions and started to eat.

"Yes and no. It was my job, so I had to deal with the challenges," Rick answered.

"Ah. Is that good cop, bad cop thing real? Every time I see it on TV, it always looked so fake." Rick chuckled and rubbed his beard.

"Haha, um, sort of, but definitely not like on TV."

"Were you the good cop? You seem like someone who fits that role."

"Yeah, I guess I was. Whenever Shane and I arrested someone, he was always up their ass. He was my best friend, but he was really hard to work with." Rick went silent for a moment. He seemed distant.

"Rick?" I called out, and he snapped his head up.

"Yeah?" I gave him a worried look.

"You okay?" He gave a quick smile and nodded.

"Yeah...," he answered, but I knew he wasn't. I wanted to ask who Shane was, but I didn't want to cause any trouble.

"What did you do before all of this happened?" Rick asked me, changing the subject. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Same as every other kid: I went to school."

"Are you from Georgia?" I smiled and nodded.

"Born and raised."

"Which town?"

"I was born in Atlanta, but after my dad died," Rick frowned a bit as I said that, "I was put into an orphanage in Macon, because both sides of my family were gone completely. Most of my raising was from there under my caretakers."

"How did your dad die?" I looked at my now empty plate.

"Lung cancer. I had no idea how he got it."

"What about your mom?" I looked at him.

"She died giving birth to me. I was a C-section baby, my dad told me. She was already sick, and she didn't make it." Rick looked over to Judith, who was being fed by Carl.

"Judith was a C-section," Rick said quietly. "Lori died like that." I pretended not to know about Lori. I knew she died giving birth to Judith, but I didn't know she died like my mom did.

"Wh-Who's Lori?" Rick took a breath.

"She was my wife and Judith's mother." I took hold of Rick's hand.

"I'm sorry...," I said quietly. I felt like everyone in the area was watching us. Rick smiled slightly and placed his hand on top of mine.

"It's okay. That was a long time ago, and I should be over it," Rick said. I could feel his hand shaking, and I was holding back tears.

"I should be over my losses too," I said, "but it's really hard to get over the loss of someone you loved." Rick nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but," he looked at me, "you seem like a strong kid." I shook my head.

"I'm anything but that," I slightly chuckled. Rick took his hand back and smiled.

"You've been through a lot on your own. You are." I looked down and pinched my fingers.

"Is a person who joins groups because she can barely take care of herself considered strong?" I asked. I saw Rick rub under his nose. I had to admit that when this apocalypse began, and even before I came across the house I lived in, I could barely survive on my own. I couldn't hunt, so I was always weak from hunger, and I always had a hard time finding food. I was still very young (yes, twelve is considered very young), so I couldn't bring myself to kill people or even walkers. I would freeze whenever I came to the decision of killing something. I would always miss with my gun only to have a few lucky shots, like when I killed the soldier when I ran from the orphanage. That night was the first time I killed anything. I felt so sick afterward. Whenever I met groups, I would have hope of surviving only to lead myself into a trap of assholes. It was until I met my third group I started to kill in cold blood. I had no regrets. When I left my fourth group, I was about fourteen. They were all dead, but I had to keep moving. I was more aware of what I had to do to survive. Stay low and hidden, travel during the day, and sleep in high grounds at night. Always have a close range weapon, that being my bat and my knife. Try to find a quiet firearm, which I ignored because I rarely used my gun to begin with, and the most important rule I made with myself that I kept on breaking: Don't bond with people. Making a bond with someone only to have them die because of you. Yeah, what a world. When I met my fifth group, which I knew was probably going to be my last, I thought I would be with them until I died. Boy was I wrong. After I was nearly raped by one of them, I killed a few of the group's men, stole, and ran. I wasn't able to take down all of them, but I was quick, so they I knew they would stop looking for me. I stopped trusting people that day. I couldn't even trust myself.

If I knew Daryl was in a group, I probably wouldn't have come with him when he asked me, but Rick told me that he didn't say he had a group out of protection. I understood that, but Daryl lying to me at first wasn't a good way to start gaining my trust, and breaking and entering was definitely not a good way to gain anyone's trust in this group. But they let me in so quickly though, even Daryl, but reluctantly. The worst thing they did was handcuffing me and locked me in a broom closet. But there was a problem. Daryl and everyone else just thought I joined groups so I wouldn't be alone. They didn't know I couldn't take care of myself beforehand. Now, Rick knows.

"In a way, no, but, in another way, yes," I heard Rick say. I looked at him. "We all make mistakes, but you become stronger when you right them." I gave out a smile that you probably need binoculars to see the corners of my mouth turn up, but then I stopped as a thought question came to mind.

"How long can I stay here?" Rick looked at me funny, and he squinted his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked a little surprised with a bit of harshness. I sighed.

"To me, this is just a rehab. What if I finally redeem myself about people, and 'Oh, I see that groups aren't so bad. The world is different now. Now I'm ready to go back out there and find groups,'" I said. "You guys gonna send me out?" Rick frowned and shook his head.

"No! We can't just let a kid go out there alone," he answered.

"What if I wasn't a kid?"

"We still wouldn't have sent you out." He took my shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "You're one of us now." I looked at his eyes. They were like Daryl's: a piercing blue, and calming, but they don't seem to change into dull colors in an emotional situation like this. What Rick said next were words I haven't heard in years, and they stuck with me. "You're family." I smiled. Rick stood up and took our plates. "Thanks for helping with dinner," he said before he walked to the kitchen. I looked around, and everyone seemed to be socializing. I sputtered my lip and rested my chin on the table. I was bored, and I didn't feel like striking a conversation with anyone at the moment. Most of the group already dispersed, so I decided to do the same. I stood up and began walking to my room. Along the way, I heard music. Video game music. It did sound a bit creepy coming from the hall, but I was wondering who was playing it. Could be Michonne. Hamtaro seemed a game she could get into. What about Carl? Well, no, because I remembered leaving my pokemon game on the table when I left, so he could have popped that in instead. I poked my head in my room.

Daryl was laying on my couch, slouching, feet crossed on the armrest toward the window, the whole shebang. He was playing my Gameboy, and I could see he was playing Hamtaro. What he was doing in the game, I'm not sure, but I was hearing rush music, like when you're in one of the mini-games.

"I would be caught dead playin' that shit," I said trying to mimic his voice. He nearly fell off the couch when he shot straight up. He turned the game off and tossed it on the cushions as he caught his breath.

"Don't do shit like that to me, kid!" he yelled, and I just laughed, pretending to wipe a tear away.

"I'm sorry," I said. I walked to him and rocked back and forth on my feet with my arms behind my back. "Do you like the game?" Daryl looked at me. Angry dull eyes again. I was expecting that.

"I was stuck on that balloon game." I knew what he was talking about. I sat beside him.

"Addictive, isn't it?" I could tell he didn't want to admit it.

"Yeah...," he answered. He seemed embarrassed.

"I wasted so many sunflower seeds on that game. I was trying to get a Ham-ham back, and the only way I could do that it to win him a hat from that game. I always got so frustrated on that game."

"You'd do terrible in Vegas then," Daryl said.

"You've been?" Daryl was silent for a bit.

"Yeah."

"What for? Vacation?" I asked.

"Sort of. It was for a friend of my brother's," he answered.

"Merle?" Daryl shot me a look, and I flinched. He sighed and looked away.

"Yeah. Me, him, and a bunch of his friends. It was for this guy, Joseph. Merle and the others were all up in his ass about him being a virgin. So," he continued as he scratched the back of his head, "we decided to go to Vegas to get him laid."

"Did he?" He scoffed.

"Yeah, and he got herpes too."

"Oh," I chuckled. "What about you?" Daryl looked at me.

"What about me what?" I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.

"What did you do when you were in Vegas? Did you get laid too?" I could feel my lips curling into a smile.

"Why the hell do you want to know?" he asked.

"I was just wondering."

"Do you think I'm a kind of person goin' 'round doin' that?"

"No! Of course not, but you know everyone has a Vegas moment," I said, throwing my hands up in surrender. Daryl sighed.

"No," he answered gruffly. "I wasn't interested. To be honest, I only came to make sure Merle and his friends wouldn't get themselves killed."

"Did you gamble?" He shook his head.

"Didn't want to risk the money I carried."

"So you were just a watchman?" I asked.

"Yeah…" I hummed.

"How long was this ago?"

"'Bout…ten, fifteen years," he said.

"Any girls hit on ya'?"

"How many dumbass questions are ya' gonna ask?" Daryl asked angrily. He was getting annoyed.

"C'mon, I just wanna know," I said. The man just groaned.

"If you count prostitutes, just a few." I bit the inside of my lip.

"And nothing happened?" I asked.

"I made out with them! Is that enough information to shut you up!" Daryl snapped before I finished the question. I laughed.

"Yeah, that's enough." I rubbed under my nose. "Did you-"

"How many more questions are there, girl?" Daryl nearly yelled as he slammed his hands against his knees.

"Hey, don't get mad at me! I'm just making a conversation," I replied.

"Can we just...," Daryl leaned back, "Can we just change the subject please?" I leaned back as well and patted the cushions rhythmically.

"Okay, um, let's see..." I sputtered my lip. I started thinking of topics. _What did you do before all of this?_ Wait, we already discussed that. Daryl gave me the shittiest answer. _What did you do when you were a kid?_ Oh god, I can't ask him that! He's either going to get all emotional or he's gonna murder me. _What did you wanna be when you were a ki-_ No no no! Still childhood related. Oh, I got one.

"Why did you come back for me?" Daryl looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"To give you a chance, like I said earlier," he said plainly. I grimaced.

"A chance to redeem my trust of people?" I crossed my arms. "That's a stupid reason."

"Well, that's my only answer."

"I know there's another answer." Daryl looked at me.

"No, there isn't. You didn't trust people, so I brought you here to fix that. Sometimes trust is something you need to survive…"

"Really, because I trusted a lot of people out there," I pointed to the window, "and they just turned against me. I'm by myself for nearly a year, and I'm doin' just fine. Hell, you didn't even had to come back! You saw clear as day I was doin' fine on my own when you found me."

"Well you didn't have to come with me. You said yes immediately after I asked you, so who's fault was it for you coming here?"

"Yours! If you didn't have come back, I wouldn't have to say yes, and I would've been in my little house…," I paused suddenly. I looked down towards the little table in front of the couch. "Alone…" I shifted my weight. "I would be alone…" There was a silence.

"What about yer cat?" I scoffed and shook my head.

"She doesn't count." I sighed. "I guess it's my own fault for being here. I did say yes..." Daryl grunted.

"Yeah, I guess so." I looked at him.

"So after I supposedly redeem myself, what then? Do you want me leave?" Daryl leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"I don't want you leave."

"What if I still have to go?"

"I still don't want you to leave. Rick calls the shots on who leaves the group. You go talk to him about that," Daryl said a bit rudely. I bit the inside of my lip.

"I already did." Daryl gave me a confused look. "He said that you guys weren't gonna kick me out."

"Then why'd you ask me if we wanted you to leave?"

"I didn't. I asked Rick that. I just asked you if _you_ wanted me to leave," I said and smiled. "And you said no." Daryl grimaced.

"What you getting' at, girl?"

"Nothing. I'm just happy to hear that you don't want me to leave even if I have to," I said happily.

"Well of course I don't want you leave! Yer just a kid! We can't send someone like you out there by yourself," Daryl said as he shot up from the couch. I stood up as well. I had to tilt my head sixty degrees to look at the man's face.

"What if I wasn't a kid?"

"We still wouldn't have sent you out!"

"Funny. Rick said the exact same words." Daryl buried his face in his hands and groaned angrily before placing them to his hips.

"Why are you asking me things you already talked to Rick about?" I shrugged.

"Just wanted to hear your answer."

"You gonna interrogate everyone else too?" Daryl asked. I pretended to think while looking up to the ceiling.

"Nope. Just thought I'd torture you more than I already do," I smirked. I turned and started walking out into the hall. "I'm going to go in your room." Daryl pushed me out of the way and blocked me.

"The hell you gonna go in there for?"

"Don't know. You go in my room and play with my stuff, so I'm gonna see if there's anything I can play with in your room," I said while trying to keep a straight face. I started walking again, but Daryl placed a muscular arm in front of me.

"There's nothing for you to mess with in ma room."

"But can I go in your room?"

"Fuck no!"

"Why? You hiding some porn stuff I can't see?" I asked quickly while trying to run passed him, but he always jumps to block my path.

"No! I just don't want people goin' in ma room!" Daryl and I continued bickering until I heard Rick's voice boom.

"The hell are you two doing?" I turned to find Rick with a very confused expression on his face. Carl was behind him.

"This demon spawn won't leave me the hell alone!" Daryl said as he pointed his finger to me like a child. I gaped my mouth at what he called me.

"Demon spawn?! How dare you! I am nothing of the sort! You, sir, are just being a killjoy!" Daryl's eyes weren't dull when he looked at me. They were bright again. Bright as flames. Flames of rage.

"I'm not! I just don't want you in my room!"

_Rick's P.O.V_

_ Oh, god, this is actually happening..._

_Daryl's P.O.V_

"Just a quick peek?" Rebecca asked, pinching her fingers together.

"I said no," I snapped. She slouched and groaned.

"Please?" She gave me some sappy puppy-dog look. _What is up with this kid? I think she was put on this world to torture me._ "Please?" Rebecca said again, but more drawn out. God, she had the most pathetic look ever. It was sickening. I groaned and pinched my fingers between my eyes.

"Look, just, no. Not now, okay?" I grumbled. Her face brightened up a bit.

"Sooo, later then?" I moved my eyes to Rick, begging for help. He shook his head.

"This is your problem, brother, not mine." I just sighed.

"Yeah..."

"Promise?" I gave a brief nod, and she smiled.

"But if I walk in and catch you in there, I swear I'm gonna kill you," I said with a smirk.

"Same thing goes to you if I see you in my room again." Rebecca placed her hands on her hips and looked at Carl. "Well, there goes my plan," she said as Carl laughed.

"You're not going to sneak into my room, are ya?" Carl asked jokingly. Rebecca let her arms drop.

"I don't know where you sleep, dude." Carl turned around and headed towards the lobby.

"Good," he said as Rebecca slid passed Rick and followed Carl.

"You know I'm going to find out and draw stuff on your face...," and their conversation was fading as they reached downstairs. I let out a breath of relief I was holding in, I rubbed the back of my head. Rick looked at me and chuckled.

"She's a handful," he said.

"No kiddin'," I replied. "Rebecca is more than a handful." Rick walked up and leaned on the wall opposite to me.

"I'm pretty sure she was just messing with you. She seemed to be enjoying herself." I leaned against my side of the wall.

"She must be a little sadist then." Rick chuckled a bit before giving a concerned look.

"How come you were in Becca's room?" I inhaled sharply.

"I was playing on her Gameboy," I said. _Please don't ask what I was playing..._ Rick gave a curt nod.

"What were you playing?" _Shit._

"Um...Pokemon," I said, lying of course. I don't like lying to Rick, but I do not want the word of me playing Hamtaro. Actually, I should have just told Rick the truth. Knowing Rebecca, she'll tell the whole group. She'll even tell people she doesn't even know. I can see it now: All of us being tied up by some other group, and Rebecca just shouts out that I play a game about a talking hamster. And then she gets shot.

"Cool." Rick's face relaxed, and I scrunched mine up out of suspicion.

"What did you think I was doin'? Goin' through her stuff like some pedophile?" Rick widened his eyes a bit.

"No! I was just wondering why you were in her room," he said as he straightened himself up. I crossed my arms.

"You seemed a bit worried before," I said with tension.

"I wasn't, Daryl." I narrowed my eyes.

"Y'sure?"

"Yes," Rick answered. We just stared at each other for a little while.

"Alright." I finally said. I gave a curt nod before walking back to my room. I closed the door as soon as I got in, and I threw myself on the couch. I didn't mean to go in Rebecca's room. I saw her freaking cat, and I walked in to pet her. The Gameboy was right beside Ella. I didn't know how I found myself playing it. I just grabbed it, turned it on, and I started running around in the game. I had no idea what the hell was going on until I got to that balloon game. I swear if Rick was actually thinking I was doing some sick stuff in her room, he's got another thing coming.

"That fuckin' kid," I mumbled to myself. I closed my eyes and sighed.

_Becca's P.O.V_

Carl and I were inside the room he stayed in. It was just the two of us.

"Am I doing this right?" Carl asked.

"Almost. If you pinch this and put your finger there to guide it, you'll get it eventually," I said as I showed Carl with my fingers. He looked down and tried again. "There, you did it. Now do it again with the other side." He did. "And you bend this here."

"Is this good?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. Now spread these apart and blow in the little hole at the bottom." Carl did as I said, and I did the same thing. I held up my paper crane as Carl held up his sloppy one. "And that's how you make an origami crane." Carl fixed his paper crane's tail a bit.

"I was never into origami before all of this," he said as he stood the paper crane on the table next to the paper cup and hat he made. I set mine down as I started cutting a square from some paper we found in one of the office rooms.

"Me neither, but you get bored during the apocalypse, and you pick up things here and there." Carl nodded in agreement.

"What else can you make?" I thought for a moment.

"I can make a lily," I said.

"Can you show me how?"

"Sure." I cut out another square and gave it to Carl, and I showed him the steps.

"Why was Daryl in your room?" Carl asked as he lifted and fold the flaps of his paper like the way I showed him.

"He was playing Hamtaro on my Gameboy," I said with a smirk, and Carl nearly laughed, meaning he at least knew what Hamtaro was. He covered his mouth as he stifled a laugh through sputtered lips.

"No way," he said as he caught his breath and continued folding.

"I'm serious. I caught him red handed." I showed him a couple more steps, and we were both holding decent looking paper flowers.

"Where'd you get the Gameboy?"

"A friend gave it to me a while back. I only have two games for it."

"What's the other game?"

"Pokemon." Carl smiled.

"Oh cool. Can I play sometime?" I smiled and nodded.

"Sure, but if Daryl wants to play Hamtaro, you'll have to give it to him." Carl and I laughed for a good few seconds when Rick walked in. I gave a friendly wave.

"What are you two laughing about this time?" Rick asked. I scratched the corners of my mouth.

"We're laughing at Daryl for playing Hamtaro," I said. Rick chuckled and shook his head.

"That son of a bitch told me he was playing Pokemon." I drifted my gaze at Carl.

"Aw, he's ashamed." Rick shook his head some more, and he snapped his fingers a couple of times.

"We'll make fun of him tomorrow, but we gotta go to bed." I sighed and stood up from the floor.

"Aw, man." I tipped Carl's hat. "G'night dude." Carl fixed it as he said goodnight. "Goodnight Rick," I said and I started walking out of the room.

"Hey, Becca?" Rick called out, and I stopped and turn.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" I squinted my eyes with a raised brow.

"Sure," I said, and Rick and I walked out. We walked to the base of the stairwell, and we stopped. No one was around. "What do you want to talk about?" Rick looked to the side and rubbed his beard with his hand before looking at me.

"Um, about Daryl…"

I looked to the side. "Oh boy," I said with both sarcasm and worry.

"You two have been spending a lot of time together." I tilted my head.

"And…is that bad?" He shook his head.

"No, but…he's not like…" He didn't even have to finish his question. The way he was looking at me says the whole thing.

"No!" I snapped. "Why the hell would you think that?!"

"I'm was just a bit worried because he was in your room, and-" I held my hand up to make him stop talking.

"He isn't doing anything wrong. He never was, and he never will," said angrily. Rick just nodded.

"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry." I put my hand down.

"You should be, Rick."

"I am. I was just worried. You got to understand that." I took a slow breath.

"Yeah. I do."

"Well, we should get to bed now," Rick suggested. I nodded with a yawn I've been holding in.

"Yeah, we should. Goodnight," I said while already walking up the stairs.

"'Night, Becca," I heard Rick say. I stopped at my open doorway and looked down the hall to where Daryl's room was. I was thinking of going there to see if he was awake so I could say goodnight, but I just shook my head. I took another step into my room. I turned sharply and headed down the hall to his door. I held my hand up in a fist, and I was about to knock, but I nearly bumped my fist into Daryl's chest when his door swung open. I quickly retracted my hand and looked up at him in total silence.

* * *

**To be continued...**


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